Tangy Asian Meatballs (Baked not Fried)

This is a great no stove top recipe. I was looking for slow cooker recipes, however many recipes need less then 6 hours, but more then 4 which is not ideal for a work day. So I took the meatball recipe from  here and baked it instead of 3-5 hours on low in the slow cooker.

After combining all the ingredients I thought the meat mixture was a little wet (i.e. not like cookie dough)... so I called my Dad! He said that meatballs are supposed to look like that and it would be fine once they are cooked. He was right! So if your meatballs don't quite look right, they might cook up just fine! He also recommends lining the baking dish with tin foil. This makes for a fast clean up and prevents all the sauces from baking into the dish and never coming off the pan.

I made a few changes, I used ground turkey instead of ground pork and I omitted the plum sauce since I didn't have any in the house. I was worried the ground turkey would be dry, but I didn't miss using pork (or a mix of meats) at all! These were very moist and flavorful.

If you use fresh ginger, you can peel the rest of the piece of ginger and freeze it in a zip lock bag. When you are ready to use it you can grate what you need and then store it back in the freezer.

Panko breadcrumbs are bigger flakes of breadcrumbs. You can use whatever plain breadcrumbs you have on hand.

I would make these again and freeze a few to see how they and I can pre-make them.  

PS It is easy to grow fresh scallions too. When you buy scallions from the grocery store, cut them down to just above the white part with the roots. Plunk it in about a half inch to an inch of water and keep place it in a semi sunny to sunny location. They should start growing in days!

 

Lil meatballs waiting to be cooked

YUM!

Tangy Asian Meatballs (Baked not Fried)

Makes approx 18 golf ball sized meatballs

 

1 pound ground turkey

1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

3 scallions, white and light-green parts, chopped

1 large egg

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3/4 cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 9x13 glass baking dish with tin foil.

Combine turkey, breadcrumbs, scallions, egg, soy sauce, ginger and garlic in a large bowl; mix until just combined – don’t over mix! The meat will look wet and not meatball like yet. Scoop into 1-inch balls and place onto the lined baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together barbecue sauce and hoisin sauce; put a spoonful over each meatball using up all the sauce.

Bake for 20-35 minutes, depending on the size of the meatball. They are done when the inside is no longer pink!

Served with rice and some roasted garlic carrots.