Spice up your life with Sweet Chilli (or chili) Pork Balls

These look suspiciously like meatballs don't they? See, I told you that meatballs would make an appearance again soon, seeing as they bring happiness to us here chez Lola and Finn. These are different in that they have an eastern influence more than a Mediterranean one which is where most of the meatball meals I make find some sort of origin. I like the zinginess of these and the distinct lack of faff, if you have a food processor to whizz up the ingredients in of course. If you don't have one of those big whizzers then one of those dinky little ones is good for blitzing the herbs and spices before you add them to the pork mince and get your hands involved.

This recipe comes courtesy of a recipe card from probably my favourite supermarket, Waitrose (Its challenger being Booths, which I also adore, being a Lancashire lass). As I work near a Waitrose, a sign that my teaching is over for the week is a trip to Waitrose before I go and pick Lola and Finn up and resume 'hands on mum' duties. I could spend hours in there, perusing all the 'hard to get' ingredients, the gorgeous looking cakes, their extensive Rioja collection and sampling the wares of the deli. It is my ideal shopping trip and sadly I derive more enjoyment from filling my trolley there than I would going clothes' shopping, being that I am a slave to cooking rather than a slave to fashion.

I have adapted this recipe by upping the coriander content a little and instead of grilling the meatballs, I like to put them in the oven to cook which takes longer but I have a temperamental grill. I have also upped the amount of chilli sauce as I thought the original was a bit stingy. I have listed the mint as optional in the recipe because I don't always use it.

Chilli pork balls, adapted from Waitrose

• Ingredients

• 2 large shallots, chopped or a medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 spring onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 lemon grass sticks, tough outer layers removed, insides roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp mint, chopped (optional)
• 2 tbsp coriander, leaves and stalks chopped, plus extra for garnish
• 1½ tsp cornflour
• 500g essential Waitrose pork mince
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 5 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the shallots or onion, spring onions, garlic and lemon grass in a food processor and whiz until very finely chopped. Add the mint, coriander, cornflour, pork, fish sauce and plenty of seasoning and pulse until well combined.

Shape the mixture into balls – wet your hands frequently to stop the mixture sticking. Place the pork balls on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and drizzle some of the sweet chilli sauce. Then place them in a hot oven, for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until the balls have started to caramelise and the fat is running from the meatballs. Spoon over more of the sweet chilli sauce if you wish.

 

Serve with noodles or rice, and I like lots of pak choi or steamed or briefly stir fried vegetables. I also like to drizzle a little bit extra chilli sauce if you like.