Sweet and Tangy Asian Meatballs

Ingredients

For The Meatballs:

½ cup almond meal (or breadcrumbs)

16 ounces ground beef (85 percent lean)

16 ounces ground pork

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ small yellow onion, grated

3 green onions finely chopped (whites + greens)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

2 large eggs

2 tablespoon Gochujang (Korean chili sauce)

2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt & black pepper

For The Sauce:

⅔ cup hoisin sauce

¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Gochujang (Korean chili sauce)

2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ginger powder

Serve over fine Udon noodles (Asian pasta) or jasmine rice.

For The Garnish:

Toasted sesame seeds

Scallions chopped on the diagonal

Pea shoots

Chopped peanuts

Lime wedges

Preparation

For The Meatballs:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Gently mix together almond meal (or bread crumbs), meat, garlic, yellow onion, green onions, ginger root, eggs, Gochujang, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Spray hands with cooking spray to make handling the meatballs easier. Use a 1 ½ inch scoop to ensure each meatball is the same size, and roll them by hand to give them a nice round shape before placing them evenly on the cookie sheet (this recipe should produce 34 meatballs).

Bake for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

While meatballs are baking steam the rice/cook the Asian noodles and set aside. If using Asian noodles gently fold in 1/4 of the sauce mixture.

Once cooked, place meatballs in a large bowl and gently fold in 3/4 of the sauce.

For The Sauce:

While meatballs are baking, in a small sauce pot over medium heat, stir in hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, Gochujang sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger powder and bring to a simmer.

Let cook for 1-2 minutes and set aside until meatballs are ready.

To Serve:

Place the sauce-coated Udon Noodles onto plates, top with sauce-coated meatballs.

Garnish with pea shoots, scallions, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.