Saturday night – need something that is reasonably easy to eat for Mr MWCED had a tooth extracted/stitches so doesn’t want anything too hard on his gums. I had pork mince and a quick search on my favourite food blog soon found the inspiration. Thank you once again, Smitten Kitchen.
The original recipe suggests that the broth is sieved – but I wanted to ‘beef’ it up with some vegetables so added some onion, celery and carrots. You can add whatever else might be in the magic fridge – I would.
This would serve about 4 people – though I’d probably add a few more veges, make more meatballs or have a side of something. While I halved the original recipe for the meatballs I kept the broth at around the same amount of ingredients – for you can never have enough of a delicious broth, right? Chile is up to you – you could use more, or less.
MEATBALLS
- 500g minced pork
- 1 large egg
- 1-1/2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
- 1-1/2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- teaspoons salt
BROTH
- One 165ml can coconut cream
- 1-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 fresh red chile, thinly sliced
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- salt
- 1 small onion sliced
- ¼ cup thinly sliced celery stalk
- 1 small carrot thinly sliced
- 100g baby spinach
- Coriander and mint for serving
Make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 220 celsius. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Make small size meatballs and place them on a baking tray about 1-inch apart. Bake until the meatballs are golden brown and just cooked through, about 12 to 14 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the broth: In a large saucepan, combine everything except the spinach and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so the broth is simmering. Simmer 10 minutes, until the flavours are infused into the broth. Season to taste, if needed, with salt. Add the meatballs to the broth, return to a simmer, cover, and simmer until cooked through and tender, about 10 to 15 more minutes. Add spinach and cook just to wilt. Season the broth with salt and lime juice if necessary. Serve with herbs, additional chiles, lime wedges, rice and roti.
Just a pinch or so of saffron mixed into some warm water and then tipped into the bowl of the rice cooker. Add a little butter, rice and water and be happy.
