If I told you, “we’re having meatballs” you might conjure up a vision of succulent, tender meatballs in a garlicky fragrant tomato sauce, or maybe you are imagining nutmeg scented Swedish meatballs in a creamy gravy. But the meatball is not confined to the West, the Chinese have the Lion’s Head, oversized pork meatballs traditionally cooked in a clay pot and southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia enjoy the street food of seasoned ground meat wrapped in crispy lettuce leaves.
Our love of Thai food has led Joe to grow some of the ingredients that haven’t always been that common in the local supermarket. We have a lemongrass plant that gets large and bushy in the garden every summer. We harvest a large portion of the stalks and freeze them for recipes like this. The significantly cut back plant is brought indoors to winter over. The greatest danger the lemongrass plant meets inside is our Golden Retriever, Cody, who when given the chance, loves to nibble on the leaves. We have three kaffir lime trees that have never produced a lime. That’s okay though, they are grown for their leaves that when crushed produce an intense citrus aroma. We also grow Thai chiles and basil, Vietnamese mint and the herb that no one is on the fence about, coriander.
The dish this is loosely based on larb, a southeast Asian favorite. This recipe makes a do it yourself appetizer or a light lunch . Set out all of your ingredients and let everyone assemble their own wrap. To eat, take a lettuce leaf, top with several meatballs, add some julienned vegetables, an herb leaf or two, a spoonful of sauce and a sprinkling of chopped peanuts. Roll it up and dig in!
Thai Lettuce Wraps with Meatballs
Make about 2 dozen meatballs
Dipping sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4c fish sauce, I am partial to the Three Crabs brand
- 1/4c fresh lime juice
- 1T Asian sesame oil
- 2t minced Thai chilis, substitute red pepper flakes if necessary
- 1t brown sugar
- 1T minced cilantro
Directions
- Combine fish sauce, lime juice, sesame oil, chili, brown sugar and cilantro in a small bowl. Let the flavors blend while you make the meatballs.
Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1lb ground pork or turkey
- 1t finely minced garlic
- 1T finely minced lemongrass, bulb end only
- 1T finely minced ginger
- 2T finely minced shallots
- 1t rice vinegar (the type with no sugar added)
- 1T Asian sesame oil
- 1-2t low sodium soy sauce
- Peanut or grape seed oil to fry the meatballs
Directions
- Combine the garlic, lemongrass, ginger, shallots, vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce in a medium bowl. Add pork and use your hands to combine ingredients thoroughly. If you have time, chill the mixture for about a half hour, this will make it easier to roll the meatballs.
- Use a tablespoon sized scoop to make the balls, you should have about two dozen. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Cover and chill for at least an hour.
- Heat several tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook in two batches so you don’t crowd the skillet. Cook, turning occasionally to brown all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm.
For final assembly
Ingredients
- Lettuce leaves, Romaine or Bibb work best here
- Finely julienned cucumber, carrot and daikon radish
- Coriander and mint leaves
- Finely chopped unsalted peanuts.
Directions
- Separate lettuce leaves as carefully as possible not to tear them. The inside leaves work the best as wrappers. Wash and spin dry in a salad spinner.
- Julienne the cucumber, radish and carrot by hand or with a julienne tool.
- Wash herb leaves and separate into individual leaves.
- Chop peanuts.
- Place all the above items on a large serving dish.
- Serve with meatballs and sauce.
