Monday 25 August 2014

Thai style pork meatballs with noodles in a fragrant broth

For some reason I've been craving Thai flavoured pork meatballs for some time, and I love noodles, so combining red curry paste and herbs, I made up this recipe. It was so good and popular with Daughter and The Englishman, I thought I'd share it with you.

The meatballs can be cooked in the oven on a non-stick oven tray, or be fried in a heavy based pan (in which case roll the meatballs in little plain flour before frying in hot vegetable oil).

For the meatballs you need:

  • 500 grammes minced pork
  • 1 egg
  • 3 water chestnuts, chopped
  • 2-3 spring onions
  • handful of fresh coriander
  • 1 red chilli (seeds removed)
  • I glove of garlic crushed
  • 1 cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 2 teaspoons of sesame oil 
  • 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoon of oyster sauce
Blitz spring onion, coriander, chilli, chopped water chestnuts, garlic and ginger in a food processor until finely chopped. 

Mix the minced pork with all the ingredients including the egg and form into about 16 balls. Bake in 180 c oven for 20 minutes. (Or coat in flour and fry in small batches.)

For the noodles in fragrant broth you need:

  • one teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1.5 tablespoon red Thai curry paste,
  • tin of coconut milk
  • 1.5 litres of vegetable stock
  • 250 grammes packet of medium egg noodles
  • 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
  • A carrot cut into matchsticks
  • 3 chestnut mushrooms thinly sliced
  • Spring onion, cut in half and finely sliced
  • Handful of coriander, finely chopped
  • Lime juice to taste
  • Thai basil, finely chopped
While the pork meatballs are cooking, start preparing the broth and noodles. Heat oil in a large pan and fry the red Thai red curry paste for a minute or two until there's a strong scent of spices. Add the coconut milk and vegetable stock. When the broth comes to boil, let it bubble for a couple of minutes. Next, add carrots and cook for 5-10 minutes according to how small the matchsticks are. Add mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes. Finally add the noodles and cook according to packet instructions (mine took 4 minutes).

When the meatballs are cooked through, remove from the oven, cover with foil and rest for a few minutes. Add them to the broth, sprinkle with some fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve with more lime wedges.




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