We Want Them Tender, Not Tough
restraints, reality, rolling gently
Welcome back to the Tuesday Night Dinner Club, a book club for cookbooks. For Spring quarter, (Q2) we are tackling Ottolenghi Comfort by Yotam Ottolenghi. Join me on the comfort food adventures!
Recipes I cooked:
Meatballs with nuoc cham, cucumber and mint
Have you ever been excited about a meatball? A question to ask on all first dates.
I definitely have. It was that one time I ordered a 10oz meatball. I said, ordered, not consumed all by myself in one sitting. I still regret that I did not get a picture to prove that such a thing existed, shocking as there are few meals I don’t automatically pull out my greasy phone to snap a quick pic of my food and do god knows what with.
Meatballs are incredibly tasty and incredibly practical. You can dress them up, dress them down, and flavor them in 674 ways (I counted). Eat them hot, cold, on a sandwich, on a salad, as a wrap, on toothpick, skewered, grilled, fried, baked. The weight of opportunities to roll meat into a ball and eat it literally defy gravity. (Cue Elphaba.)
I have made approximately 347 versions of a meatball, and the formula goes something like this:
Ground meat
Egg and milk
Breadcrumbs
Spices
Aromatics- garlic and onion
Herbs
The meatballs we made today are inspired by the meatballs you find in Vietnam & Thailand (I haven’t been yet, but considering a trip for these meatballs.)
Here is the formula:
Ground pork
Fish sauce and a little sugar
Cooked rice
Garlic and shallot
Cilantro and mint
Oh, the restraint it took for me to use pork instead of swapping it for ground chicken (old habits die hard). The pork was incredible btw. Rich, salty, and very satisfying, but we knew it would be.
As versatile as meatballs are they are not foolproof. There is always a risk of your meatballs being under-seasoned, over-cooked, tough not tender, and falling apart all over the place. Let’s assess.
Under-seasoned - Ultimately means you were light-handed with the salt. A good rule of thumb is 1 tsp of salt per pound of meat. Make adjustments depending on what else is going on in the mixture. Example: Adding parmesan cheese use a little less salt.
To test the flavor of your meatball, take a tablespoon of the mixture and fry it in a pan with oil. Then TASTE it! Adjust seasoning as necessary - trust your pallet. Then proceed to roll the rest of your meatballs knowing they will be seasoned to perfection!
Over-cooked - Exactly what it says, it means. The meatballs were cooked for too long, and they were dry, tough, and unpleasant. Not unedible, but you WILL know when a meatball has been overcooked.
Tough, not tender - This can happen from overcooking BUT it can also be the cause of overmixing. Ground meat is delicate and should be handled as little as possible. Not whipped egg-white delicate, but you must avoid mashing it around aggressively. A great way to avoid over-mixing is to add all the ingredients into a bowl MINUS the meat, and mix them until well combined. THEN and only then, crumble in the ground meat and continue to mix gently until everything is combined.
Falling apart/to sticky - The ratio of breadcrumbs and egg might be off. Too sticky add a bit more bread crumbs. Falling apart, add a bit more egg. A good ratio to start with is 1/2 c breadcrumbs and one egg per pound of meat.
Meatballs are a great way to play with flavors, go have some fun rolling those balls, but not too hard.
Pro Tip: Use a cookie scoop to make evenly sized meatballs.
Oh, the restraint it took for me to fry these meatballs instead of bake them. I prefer to bake my meatballs for ease and then throw them in a pan to heat up and caramelize the meat aka build flavor. The recipe has you making little one-ounce balls, so having them go straight into the pan of hot oil is okay. They fried up quick and were ready for their little lettuce wraps in no time.
Wrap prep
Wash appropriate shaped lettuce - something sturdy enough to wrap up the balls. I used iceberg. Crisp, crunchy, durable.
Slice some cucumber very thin. I used a mandolin. Radish would also be great.
Extra cilantro and mint - don’t skip this step a nice burst of fresh herbs is welcomed with the salty meat and hot sauce.
Any other toppings that you feel fit the vibe of these meatballs are welcome. Sesame seeds, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts…
Nuoc Cham, a lesson on being flexible.
Nuoc Cham is a Vietnamese dipping sauce. Made from fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and birds eye chile. (spicey!) It is well balanced and quite liquidy. Used as a dipping sauce for spring rolls and to dress noodles, I highly recommend making this sauce.
BUT I didn’t.
I opted for a locally made salsa with a fusion of Latin and Asian flavors. It is not a sub for the nuoc cham but sometimes making one extra thing feels out of reach and when this happens please don’t feel chained to your recipe, and make adjustments as necessary to your situation.
This is important. Please allow yourself the grace to explore and play but also be realistic within your life. I would much rather you make the meatball recipe and skip the sauce than not make the meatballs at all because the recipe looks really long and complicated (because of a sauce).
I tried out two different salsas with these meatballs:
A Lime Walks into a Pepper - Hot, acidic, full of life!
Latin Dragon - An Asian Latin fusion salsa that brings together these two flavor profiles in a spicy, sesame explosion of flavor!
Salsa Del Diablo makes devilishly delicious salsa and they ship nationwide. If you are craving some unique salsa flavors and salsa that is actually hot check them out here. I am just a big fan!
That's a wrap.
Time to wrap up some meatballs and enjoy! Meatballs make great leftovers; I encourage you to always make a double batch.
There are many ways to get your hands on Ottolenghi Comfort by Yotom Ottolenghi. Support my culinary adventures by purchasing the book through this affiliate link.
Cheers,
the Culinary Maven, Nicole S.
