Sweet & Sour Meatballs with a Ketchup based Sweet & Sour Sauce with Citrusy Complex Flavors. Serve it with some White Steamed Rice. This recipe make a big batch. So you can easily double the recipe for the Meatballs or freeze half of the Sauce.
Servings: 20 Meatballs
Equipment
- 1 Sauce Pot
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Baking Sheet
- 1 Large Wok
- 1 Sieve
Ingredients
Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 3 C Water
- 1 C Ketchup - preferably Heinz Chili Sauce
- 1 C Sugar
- 5 cloves Garlic - roughly chopped or crushed
- 1 med Orange - sliced in half or quarters
- 1 med Lemon - sliced in half or quarters
- 1 med Plum - seed removed
- 1 inch Ginger - thinly sliced
- 5 Tbl White & Apple Vinegar - each
- 1 tsp Sichuan Peppers - or use 1/2 tsp Black Pepper & Coriander each.
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper - or 1 tsp Whole White Peppercorn
Slurry
- 2 Tbl Cold Water & Cornstarch or Potato Starch - each
Meatballs
- 1 lb Ground Beef - can use ground Pork or Chicken
- 1 Tbl Flour
- 1 tsp Sea Salt, Smoked Paprika, Onion Powder, & Garlic Powder - each
Instructions
- Place into a pot all the ingredients for the Sweet & Sour Sauce including the whole Fruits with the Juices squeezed. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside until needed.
- Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl for the Meatballs and mix well. Shape into meatballs using 1 1/2 Tbl portions and lay them out on a baking sheet. Once all the Meatballs are made place them into the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Place the Wok over medium heat for about 1 - 2 minutes. Then add the Frozen Meatballs and cover with a lid. Leave for 3 minutes. Uncover and move the meatballs around. Cover again and cook another 5 minutes. Shake the Wok around every 30 seconds - a minute to move the meatballs around for a total cook time of 8 minutes.
- Add the Sweet & Sour Sauce to the Wok with the Meatballs through a sieve and mix well. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the Slurry and mix well while it thickens. Remove from heat and let sit 5–10 minutes before serving.
Notes
This is a lot of Sauce that can be saved for other dishes or frozen and used again for another batch of Sweet & Sour Meatballs. You can also double the meatball recipe.
For Spicy Sweet & Sour Meatball up the Sichuan or White pepper to taste.