Thursday 17 August 2017

Sweet and Sour Meatballs


I am so determined not to just look at the photos in my cookbooks. So I made an effort to cook another recipe from it. Sweet and Sour Meatballs. Easy peasy, right?

Right. Which was why I didn't pay attention while referring to the recipe. I thought it was odd that the meatball recipe did not include onions. I always add onions. How could it taste good without onions, I scoffed.

I proceeded to mix the meatballs and instead of deep frying, I put then in the oven. When I returned to the cookbook to refer to the sauce ingredients, alamak!


The onions, along with water chestnuts, chopped carrots and coriander leaves were in ingredients B for the meatballs. See, that's what happens when you don't pay attention. You think you are so expert in making meatballs. Haiz.....

It was too late. 


So I paid close attention when making the sauce. Everything turned out well and though lacking in onions, the meatballs tasted fine.

One thing I learnt from the cookbook was forming meatballs by grabbing a bit of mixture and squeezing it out from between your thumb and index finger. Pretty much like how fishballs are formed.

I wasn't very good at it but found that it is useful in getting equal portions. I had to reshape the meatballs to make them round. 

Next time, I'll be sure to buy some water chestnuts to add to the meatballs. And of course, I won't forget onions.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Recipe source : Adapted from Daily Meals Made Simple (page 117)

Ingredients :

Meatballs - Ingredients A
- 400g minced meat
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp Huatiao wine
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp cornflour

Meatballs - Ingredients B (which I totally left our arrghhh!!!So I just agak-agak the proportion here)
- 3 water chestnuts (chopped)
- 1 big onion (a small one)
- 1/2 a small carrot (chopped)
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves (chopped)
- 1 tbsp cornflour

Sauce ingredients :
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 tbsp plum sauce
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Huatiao wine
- 1 tbsp light soya sauce
- 100ml water

Garnishing :
- 1/2 each yellow, green and red peppers, cubed
- 1 big onion, cubed

Thickener :
- 1/2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 2 tbsp water

Method :
1. To make the meatballs, mix ingredients A together
2. Then add ingredients B. Mix until well combined and mixture is gluey and comes together.
3. To form the meatballs, grab an amount of mixture in your hand and squeeze it out between your thumb and index finger. Scoop the meatball with a spoon and place on a baking tray. (If you want to deep fry the meatballs, coat each meatball with plain flour before dropping it into the hot oil).
4. Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.
5. When the meatballs are done, make the sauce.
6. Heat oil in wok and saute the onions until translucent.
7. Add peppers and stir fry briefly and then add sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and add the thickener.
8. Add meatballs and stir to coat.

32 comments:

  1. I like the crunchiness of water chestnuts in meatballs but I believe your meatballs are still very tasty despite not having ingredients B on them. The sweet and sour sauce did it for me cos got tomato ketchup! Best!

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    1. The sauce combination was good. That's why I like to try different variations that I find in cookbooks.

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  2. NO worries, PH! Your meatballs still look tasty without the complete ingredients B. Next time don't pretend to be a MasterChef though you know the recipe by heart.Pretend to be an obedient student and follow whatever the chef wrote in the recipe book. Hahaha!

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    1. Thanks, MD! I thought I was very clever. LOL!

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  3. Last time my mum used to squeeze the fish paste using her fingers, but I didn't pay attention, don't know which fingers she used, she did it pretty fast too and as you said, they came out pretty much the same size. I love meatballs too, I usually cook them with diced potatoes for my kids... last time...

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    1. With practice can do very fast but I probably do once in a blue moon hee..hee..

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  4. Baked would be healthier...or boiled to make soup but my girl loves them deep fried. Made some that day, had to make them again the following week.

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    1. Baked is easier too. No need to stand at the stove.

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  5. I made meat balls too yesterday and I added salted fish in it, theyy tasted so good and the best version I've made so far!
    I like water chestnut in meat balls or dumpling filling but they are not always available >_<

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    Replies
    1. With salted fish sure much better. I got to try that!

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  6. the meatballs looks tasty and tempting!!! I want it now!!!

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    Replies
    1. hee..hee.. They are an all time favorite.

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  7. I have a prblem with discipline and can't read an instruction in a linear fashion. Sometimes, the mistake is too much for remedy but I forget my lesson esp when I was successful the first time.

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    1. That's right, it shows that we actually can make shortcuts and omit certain ingredients and still achieve some measure of success. For some recipes that is hah..hah...

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  8. If it still tastes fine without onions, maybe you could omit them from now on! ;)

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  9. Hi PH, that plate of meatballs look so good! I can't wait to try this - my kids are gonna love it.

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    1. Hey Esther! Meatballs are very kid friendly so your kids will be thrilled!

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  10. I'm wondering why you had to refer to a recipe to make meatballs as I remember reading quite a few meatball posts in your blog and that means you already know how to make meatballs without any recipe (next time no need to pay attention to read the recipe)! ;) I also make sweet & sour meatballs at home (cop out) but it's really sweet & sour pork that my family loves more...hehe! ;D

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    Replies
    1. I wanted to try something different from my usual same old same old recipe hee..hee..

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  11. Kalau i .... meatball tu beli je LL hihi...cepat dan mudah kerja gitu...

    Ok ...minggu depan kita gentel meatball sekali yeh

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    1. Lagi senang kan kalau beli, Hainom. Tapi LL lebih suka tekstur meatball yang buat sendiri.

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  12. Delicious sweet and sour meatballs. Great with white rice. I love water chestnuts too!

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    Replies
    1. Sweet and sour is an all time favorite!

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  13. I make a very similiar recipe but from a different book

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    Replies
    1. I bet it tasted just as good or even better!

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  14. I never try sweet and sour meatballs before. Somehow the distinctive taste of meatballs is overpowering and the sweet and sour sauce is second in taste. ^^ However I like sweer sour fish and chicken fillets.

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    1. This recipe the meatball taste is just nice. Goes well with the yummy sauce!

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  15. Hi Phong Hong, I love to add minced onions and water chestnuts in my meatballs. Love the crunchiness. Your dish of sweet & sour meatballs looked very tempting. I'm drooling ^-^!

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    1. Too bad I missed out on the water chestnuts!

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  16. I like to have water chestnut in my meatballs

    Your meatballs look good and tasty even without ingredients B, slurps

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    Replies
    1. Next time I really must make sure I buy water chestnuts :)

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