Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs
For Sauce:
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon sriracha (add more if you want the sauce spicier)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1-2 inch fresh ginger, finely minced
4 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
For Veggies:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ onion, chopped into chunks
1 bell pepper, chopped into chunks
½ jalapeno, finely diced (partially seeded - the more seeds you leave, the spicier it’ll be)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 inch fresh ginger, minced
For Meatballs:
1 pound ground chicken
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ onion, finely diced
½ carrot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
Rice, for serving
For Sauce:
In a medium bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients. Use a fork to whisk everything together in order to help dissolve the brown sugar and breakdown the cornstarch. You’ll find small blobs of cornstarch still in the sauce if you haven’t whisked it enough, so scoop the sauce up with your fork to regularly check its consistency. Whisking will probably take about 1-2 minutes until the cornstarch is broken down and incorporated. Set aside.
For Veggies:
Have all of your veggies prepped and ready to go in a medium sized bowl before you continue prepping the meatballs.
For Meatballs:
Start prepping the rice now, as you normally would, so it’s finished by the time the meatballs and sauce are done.
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, brown sugar, white pepper, onions, carrots, and garlic. Mix everything together until the ground chicken has been broken down and the carrots and onions are equally distributed throughout the mixture. Add the egg and the breadcrumbs. Again, mix everything until well combined and the breadcrumbs are equally distributed.
With a plate or tray at the ready, use your hands to form uniform meatballs with the mixture. Aim for 2 inches in diameter, but the size is up to you. Remember, the meatballs will shrink once they cook. Set the meatballs on the plate.
Heat a large pan over medium heat. As the pan heats up, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and swirl it around the pan to fully coat the bottom. You may need to work in batches but add as many meatballs to the pan as you can without overcrowding them. This means leaving at least 1-2 inches between meatballs. Brown each side of the meatballs for about 1-2 minutes each. Roll them around to make sure you brown all sides. It may take about 10-15 minutes before they are fully cooked through.
Because the meatballs are chicken, it’s important that they’re fully cooked, so cut into one to check before removing the rest from the pan.
If you need to do a second batch to cook all the meatballs, check the temperature of your pan. You may want to turn it down a bit because of how hot it’s gotten. You don’t want to burn your next round of meatballs without them being fully coked through.
Once fully cooked, remove the meatballs from the pan and set them aside.
Once all the meatballs have been cooked, use a paper towel to wipe out the pan. Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan. As it’s getting hot, add in all of the veggies. Sauté them until the onions and bell peppers have softened and the onions start to turn a ting golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Stir constantly for the first 1-2 minutes so the garlic and ginger don’t burn.
Pour in the sauce and stir constantly for the first 1-2 minutes to help it thicken. Let the sauce come to a simmer and continue stirring occasionally to help thicken the sauce and to gauge its consistency. The sauce should get to the right thickness after about 5-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
To serve, divide up the rice, add 3-4 meatballs to each bowl, and pour the sauce over top everything.
Enjoy!
