Asian Meatballs With Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce

Submitted by Dine Dish

"This recipe comes from the May 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine. This is a quick, delicious meal. Something different from the normal weeknight routine. Hope you enjoy it! Serve over steamed white rice. (One reviewer said that they substituted ground beef for the pork/veal and it turned out great that way too.)"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 12 large meatballs
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup whole milk
• 1⁄4 cup fine dry breadcrumb
• 3⁄4 lb ground pork
• 3⁄4 lb ground veal
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1⁄2 cup canned sliced water chestnuts, rinsed, drained, and finely chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus
• 1⁄4 cup fresh cilantro stem
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons sugar

directions

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 500°F.
2. Pour milk over bread crumbs in a large bowl and stir until liquid is absorbed. Add ground meat, egg, water chestnuts, salt, chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 3 tablespoons meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish. Make more meatballs with remaining mixture, arranging meatballs about 1/2 inch apart in baking dish. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, stir together lime juice, water, sugar, remaining 4 tablespoons soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a bowl until sugar is dissolved.
4. Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce and sprinkle with cilantro sprigs.
5. Serve meatballs with remaining sauce.

Reviews

[Maito]

Great meatballs, great sauce, loved the crunch of the water chestnuts in it. I only had one pound of ground turkey, so that is what I used, and it worked well. I also used nonfat milk and only a quarter of the sesame oil/sugar for our tastes. Served these with rice and Chinese broccoli, with some of the sauce over them too, and it was a yummy meal (though I wouldn't call it a weeknight meal since the making of the meatballs does take a bit of time).

 

[Cathi50]

I thought the taste and texture of the meatballs were very good. But the sauce was too skimpy and kind of blah for me. I'm searching for a lime/soy/sesame sauce that works better. But again, I thought the meatballs were yummy.

 

[JanK 2]

I make this a few times a year now, everyone loves it.