Thai Meatballs
User Reviews
5
Thai Meatballs
Description
The meatballs combine ground meat with fresh herbs, garlic, fish sauce, and black pepper to create a well-seasoned mixture. Rice flour is used to coat the meatballs, aiding in forming a crisp crust during frying. The balls are deep-fried or shallow-fried in hot oil until browned and cooked through, then kept warm until serving.
The dipping sauce complements the meatballs with pungent fish sauce, sweetness from palm sugar, acidity from tamarind paste (optional), and heat from Thai chiles. Shallots and garlic are sautéed to mellow their sharpness before mixing into the sauce. Fresh herbs like cilantro and scallions brighten the sauce, which can be served at room temperature.
These meatballs offer a balance of textures and flavors, making them suitable as appetizers or part of a meal where the sauce adds complexity to the crispy fried meat.
Ingredients
DIPPING SAUCE
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 1 shallot large, minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- Thai chiles or similar, chopped
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste optional, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- 2 scallions minced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro or rau ram, minced
MEATBALLS
- 1 1/2 pounds ground meat (see above)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1/2 cup cilantro stems minced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 scallions minced
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons cilantro leaves or rau ram leaves, chopped
- 2 egg beaten
- 1 cup rice flour for coating, or regular flour
- cooking oil for frying
Instructions
DIPPING SAUCE
- Heat the oil in a small pan and sauté the shallots and garlic until golden. Move them to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. If you are not using the tamarind, use 3 tablespoons of water in the sauce instead. Let this sit at room temperature.
MEATBALLS
- Mix all the meatball ingredients together except the rice flour. Knead this well. If it's too wet, add some rice flour. Roll into balls and coat with more rice flour. You can either deep fry these, or fry them in about 1 inch of oil. You want the oil to be at least 325°F, and 350°F is better. Fry until nicely browned and keep in a warm oven until you've cooked them all. Serve with the dipping sauce.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 6servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 458 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 458kcal | 23% |
| Carbohydrates | 28g | 9% |
| Protein | 24g | 48% |
| Fat | 27g | 42% |
| Saturated Fat | 10g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 135mg | 45% |
| Sodium | 1566mg | 65% |
| Potassium | 464mg | 10% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 4g | 8% |
| Vitamin A | 181IU | 4% |
| Vitamin C | 3mg | 3% |
| Calcium | 54mg | 5% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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