Spicy Asian Ginger Meatballs

Meatballs with some serious taste! Garlic and ginger come together in a sweet, slightly spicy Asian sauce to create a flavor sensation.

I made these for my first blog-iversary party last summer and, although my guests really liked all the recipes, these meatballs were the biggest hit. My friends were asking me if the recipe is up on the blog. It wasn’t then, but I did add it shortly afterwards … and then it got lost in the shuffle from the big blog move, so I really just have to re-blog these yummies.

I was really excited that my daughter tried them … she said they were good, but a little too spicy for her taste. (My girl does NOT like spicy food at all.) She was wishing her friend who loves Asian food had been able to make it to the party because she thought she would have LOVED them.

These little meatballs really aren’t very spicy, in my opinion, but if you or your party guests are sensitive to “heat”, you could use less of the hot chili sauce and more hoison in the meatball sauce. I was worried the meatballs wouldn’t be salty enough because there is no salt in the balls, but slow-cooking them in the sauce made them just perfect. I have to thank SouthernCookingLight for the awesome recipe. This one is a definite keeper!

I served them as an appetizer, but you could have them as a meal too over rice with some steamed vegies alongside. Perhaps you could put a string of meatballs on a stick over the rice and vegies? … that would be fun too.

Spicy Asian Ginger Meatballs

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the meatballs:

• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 small onion, peeled
• 1 – 8 oz. can of water chestnuts, drained
• 1 lb. lean ground beef or venison (I used venison)
• 1 lb. lean ground pork
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 cup finely shredded carrots

For the sauce:

• 2/3 cup hoisin sauce (you can use bottled hoisin or make your own … )
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tblsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. fresh ground ginger
• 1/3 cup Thai Chili Sauce

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Instructions

1. To make the meatballs: Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a handi chopper or food processor, process the garlic, water chestnuts and onion into fine bits.
2. Mix with the remaining ingredients till well blended. Form into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for about 15-20 minutes, until done.
3. While the meatballs are cooking, make the sauce: In a bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Either set the meatballs in a saucepan or crockpot and pour the sauce over the meatballs. In the crockpot, cook at low heat for 6 hours. In a saucepan on medium (or medium low) heat just heat it all until everything is heated, about 20 minutes.

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Notes

40 minute cook time is for stovetop cooking … if you use a crockpot, adjust accordingly because you’ll want to cook the meatballs for about 6 hours on low.

This recipe was shared at Manic Monday, Wonderful Food Wednesday and Wednesday Extravaganza.