This recipe for Vietnamese-Style Pork Meatballs comes from the recently published Community Table: Recipes for an Ecological Food Future. ©2018 powerHouse Books. By The Ecology Center.
The book is a celebration of seasons, farmers, chefs and an ecological food future.
The Meatballs are crafted with rice noodles, tossed with Thai sweet and spicy sauce. The rice noodles are placed inside lettuce leaves, then topped with the meatballs and lemongrass relish.
This recipe was created by Chef Rich Mead of Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens.
For other recipes from the cookbook, click here.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1-1/2 pounds full-fat ground pork
- 2-1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1-1/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 4 shallots, minced
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 cup peanut oil
- 12 ounces dried rice noodles
- 3 quarts water
- 1 medium butter leaf lettuce head, washed, patted dry, and seperated
Thai Sweet and Spicy Sauce
- 2-1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili paste
- To taste salt
Lemongrass Chili Relish
- 2 tablespoons lemongrass, minced
- 1/2 yellow onion, minced
- 1 jalapeño, minced
- 1 friggitello pepper, minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 3 tablespoons pickling liquid
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
Preparation
Meatballs
- 1 In medium bowl, mix together first five ingredients and refrigerate overnight, about 8-24 hours.
- 2 In medium pot, bring water to boil. Add rice noodles and stir to separate. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until noodles are al dente. Drain and rinse well. (If noodles begin to stick, toss in a little peanut oil.) Toss with Thai sweet and spicy sauce. Set aside.
- 3 Heat oven to 325 degrees F. While noodles are resting, begin to form gumball-size meatballs. Once formed, heat a medium-size frying pan on medium-high heat, and add oil. Working in batches, brown meatballs on all sides. Place on a sheet tray. Bake meatballs for about 15-20 minutes or until juices run clear. Set aside.
Thai Sweet and Spicy Sauce
- 1 In medium bowl, mix together sugar, water, white vinegar, minced garlic and chili paste. Heat a saucepan on medium-high heat. Once hot, reduce to medium and add ingredients from bowl. Allow to simmer on low heat until sauce begins to thicken. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool 2-3 hours or overnight.
Lemongrass Chile Relish
- 1 Combine all ingredients in small bowl. Adjust relish according to taste preferences.
To Plate
- 1 Place rice noodles inside lettuce leaves, then top with meatballs and lemongrass relish. Enjoy!
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