1 post tagged “demos”

These meatballs are really fragrant, fairly spicy, and just damned tasty. As with any food that requires you to form lots of individual pieces (as opposed to say, making a big meatloaf), it takes a little bit of time -- but it's well worth it. They are really ideal as a snack, with a fantastic dipping sauce -- but they're great as a main course also (although I wish I'd come up with a veggie or salad side dish, rather than just the rice):

First off, here's the meez for the peanut sauce (clockwise from the top: a tablespoon each of vegetable oil, peanut butter, lemon juice, red Thai curry paste, a cup of coconut milk, and a tablespoon of brown sugar):

First off, fry the curry paste in the vegetable oil for a minute or so:

Next, dump the rest in, and simmer for a few minutes. Set aside to chill, and leave in the fridge -- to be served cold (obviously, if you prefer it, it is also really nice served warm). And of course, you can always adjust the ratios according to your own preferences -- I'm not as crazy about peanut butter as most people, so I go a little easy on it, but I occasionally like things a little spicy, so I often go a little heavier on the curry paste.

For the meatballs, clockwise from top: meat (pork and beef, about 2.5 lb total), lemongrass paste (2 Tbsp), scallions (4), garlic (half a dozen cloves), red Thai curry paste (1 Tbsp), salt (2 tsp), lemon (1-2 Tbsp), pepper (2 tsp), fish sauce (1 Tbsp), and an egg.

Mince garlic and green onions, and mix everything together. Shape into walnut-sized balls (recruit someone to help you with this task, if at all possible) and set aside in fridge to firm up until ready to cook. Everything until this point could be prepared a day ahead (just make sure to cover the meatballs with cling-wrap) -- these things are obviously great as snacks for a party. Also, if you are planning on serving them as a main course, with a hot sauce, you can do this step prior to making the sauce.

Sorry, not a very good picture -- but this was my setup: the balls on the right, a bowl with flour (I used an Indian besan flour, but regular western stuff would work just fine too), and on the far left, a bowl with paper towels to deposit the balls after frying. There's a big slotted spoon, to move them out from the pan, too.

Dust in flour, and fry in a skillet with about 1/2" of oil in it. Deposit them in the paper-towel bowl, and leave them in a warm oven until the rest are finished. (Don't cover them with tinfoil at this stage, or else they'll lose the crispy texture -- since the heat will create condensation).

Well, that's it. Plate in up as a main course, or serve as hors d'oeuvres, with the sauce for dipping -- toothpicks and all. I hope this demo is understandable and informative -- and that you'd consider making it. The recipe came from an out-of-print called "Wok & Stir Fry" by Linda Doeser.