Easy Eats: Pork, Ginger and Spring Onion Meatballs

These meatballs are highly adaptable and full of flavour. Photo: Kelly Gibney

These meatballs aim to replicate my favourite dumpling flavours in a weeknight-friendly form. The recipe is highly adaptable—double the batch for great leftovers for lunch or add chopped kimchi to the meatball mixture for extra flavour. You can also sneak in more vegetables by adding grated carrot or courgette to the meatballs. Another favourite way to serve them is in a broth with noodles and vegetables.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 500-600g free range pork mince
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger powder
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 egg
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• Generous pinch salt and cracked pepper

For the sauce: 

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp boiling water
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice wine or white vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chilli oil (optional)

For the salad:

• 10cm piece cucumber, sliced
• ½ capsicum, sliced thinly
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• ¼ red onion, sliced thinly
   
• Oil for frying
• Toasted sesame seeds to garnish
• Steamed rice to serve

Method

Combine all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Use damp hands to roll tablespoons of mince into balls.

Heat a glug of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the meatballs, in batches if necessary, until browned and cooked through.

To make the sauce, dissolve the sugar in the boiling water, add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

Combine the salad ingredients.

To serve: Place a serving of steamed rice and some salad in each bowl. Top with the meatballs. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve the sauce on the side to dress the rice and salad as desired.

Photo: Kelly Gibney

Kelly Gibney is an Auckland-based food writer, photographer and cookbook author. Her latest book ENJOY: Food worth sharing with the people you love shares delicious and achievable ideas for making every meal memorable. She also shares weekly recipes via her newsletter.