Wednesday, December 21, 2011

cashew chicken meatballs


I've had meatballs on the brain lately. Made some good old-school spaghetti and meatballs a couple of weeks ago. Tonight I decided I wanted to go a bit crazy and come up with a new meatball. As is my tendency, I went for Asian flavors. I found some Chinese and Korean meatball recipes on-line, took some ideas from those, and came up with these bad boys, which give a nod to American Chinese take-out. Cashew Chicken Meatballs! Yum.


Cashew Chicken Meatballs

-1 Tablespoon oil
-1 shallot, finely chopped
-1 bunch of green onions, sliced thin, white parts separated from green tops
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 Tablespoon fish sauce
-3 Tablespoons soy sauce (divided)
-1 pound ground chicken
-1/2 cup salted cashews, chopped
-1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
-1 egg
-small handful cilantro, chopped
-1/8 teaspoon each: white pepper, ground ginger, coriander, cayenne pepper, black pepper
-small bowl of sugar

In a small pan, saute the shallot, garlic, white parts of green onions in oil. Add fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce. Cook until vegetables are soft and beginning to brown. remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Combine the cooked shallot mixture with the rest of the ingredients, except the sugar. Mix well with hands. Roll meat mixture into small, 1-1 1/2 inch balls. Gently roll each ball in sugar to lightly coat, and place on a foil-lined, greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning once, until browned and cooked through. Serve on rice with shredded cabbage, garnished with cilantro, sliced green onions and chopped cashews. If desired, make a dipping sauce with 1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar, 3 Tablespoons each of rice vinegar and soy sauce, and some Sriracha sauce.

8 comments:

MamaPhunk said...

I GOT SCARED AND THOUGHT YOU MADE BRYAN INTO MEATBALLS.

these look delicious!

Natalie said...

love the addition of cashews to these!

Todd 'tojosan' Jordan said...

Delish!
Thanks for sharing.

S. Eric Ketzer said...

This is the first time I have ever wanted Bryan's balls in my mouth.

Lynne said...

These look great, and I'm pretty sure I could manage them. Where does one buy fish oil?

ironstef said...

Oh shoot! Lynne, thanks for commenting. That was supposed to say "Fish Sauce." I have made the change in the post. Embarrassing!! Fish SAUCE can be found in most grocery stores, where they sell Asian foods... by the soy sauce, usually.

tastycorn said...

Hi! I came across your blog when I did a search under chickpeas and sesame. Your chickpea/sesame stir fry recipe turned out so tasty! I'm attempting to make your cashew chicken meatball dish but are you supposed to include the 1/2 cup of cashews with the mixture or is it supposed to be added at the end with the green onions and cilantro? Thanks and keep up the good work!

ironstef said...

tastycorn,
there are cashews in the meatballs themselves. The ones I sprinkled on top were extra, for garnish. Thanks for reading and commenting! enjoy the balls!! :)