Thai Meat Balls

Now the name is deceptive – meat balls suffer badly from school-food-syndrome and arouse years of dormant retrospective revulsion, the foundations of which were probably laid in a school dining room. However a quick switch of the Italian ingredients for their Thai counterparts and the humble meatball can be transformed from the kid not picked for teams to blossoming Prom Queen. The only slight snag is getting your hands on pork mince which is not as readily available as you might think. When you do happen across it however, a) make sure it is lean and b) marvel at what good value it is.

I personally need no persuasion at all on the meatball front; aside from being perfectly formed little mouthfuls making for very easy dishing out duty, in my peculiar little head there’s something kind of gangster-retro about them, the sort of thing Michael Corleone might ask his Mama to cook for him having just come back exhausted after dispatching his twenty least favourite people – he would then sit at a little table with a little red and white table cloth, napkin tucked into collar, maybe even a rose on the table and some shady character in a trilby lurking in the background.... This is an absurd conversation, all I am saying is that whoever has been doing the PR for meatballs recently has not been doing a very good job and I think this recipe might amend your old school memory and with any luck could have you batting for the home team.

You will need (4 people)

500g Pork mince

2 Shallots / one small onion finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic finely sliced / grated

3 red chillies, de-seeded and finely sliced

big knob of ginger finely chopped

Stick of lemon grass / Kaffir lime leaves if you have them

One carton of coconut cream (not milk)

500mls of chicken stock

Large bunch of fresh coriander

A lime or two

Sesame oil

Fish sauce

White rice for four people (for rice and my relationship with, see Pot Curry)

Oil (any)

Salt and Pepper

To make meat balls that stay in their shape you have to get your hands dirty and really mush them. In a big bowl mix together the pork mince, shallots/onions, garlic, 2 chillies,  2/3rds of the ginger, a slosh of fish sauce and a shake of sesame oil. With your hands really bind all the ingredients – all the pork needs to be broken down from its minced curls into a pliable, almost paste like consistency. Once satisfied, roll the mixture into balls the size of prize conkers with your hands, patting down any stray bits of chilli or shallot/onion.

In a big frying pan, heat enough oil to cover the base, and begin to colour the meat balls – you don’t want to cook them, just a minute or two of rolling around in the pan should be enough to brown and seal them. Transfer them to an oven proof saucepan and pour over the coconut cream and chicken stock, the remaining chilli and garlic, and lemon grass and Kaffir lime leaves if using. Give the liquid a little stir, season with salt and pepper and cover. Cook in a hot (about 180 degrees) oven for 20 minutes. While the meatballs are doing their thing in the oven you could cook the rice and then serve with a decorative but essential, generous sprinkling of coriander and a wedge of lime.