The Meatwave

There's a pretty long list of foods that I semi-secretly love. These are things that people might be surprised that I swoon over, or at least get excited by the sight of. One of them are those saucy, sweet slow cooker cocktail meatballs. Whenever someone shows up at a potluck with a CrockPot, I can't wait to see if it contains a plethora of small, supermarket meatballs swimming in a pool of sugary jelly—they're an odd pairing of sweet and savory that I'm somehow attracted to. I've never made them at home, but I thought I could do something similar and up the game by making my own meatballs and tossing them in a tried and true sweet and sour sauce.

The sauce I'm referring to is what you get when you order anything "sweet and sour" at a standard American-Chinese restaurant. It's a fruity, sugary, and tangy mix that's hard to resist when it's good (when it's bad...that's another story). My approximation of a great sweet and sour sauce started with a pineapple juice base that I built upon with rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce. I brought this combo up to a boil, then added a cornstarch slurry and let it thicken to get the right viscous, syrupy consistency.

Making my own meatballs allowed me to match the flavor profile to the sauce to get a harmonious final dish. This required ground beef chuck—using one that had at least 20% fat for the most tasty and juicy results—and the standard players in meatball creation: eggs for binding, bread crumbs (I used panko) for lightness and additional binding, salt, and pepper. To give the meatballs a bit of Asian flavor to pair with the sauce, I also added in scallions, ginger, and garlic.

While the bite-size portion of those cocktail meatballs are part of the attraction for me, I had to roll these ones out a bit bigger so they'd be large enough not to fall through the grill grates. I made each meatball about one and a half inches in diameter, meaning that they were more of a two or three-bite experience.

On the grill, these meatballs browned beautifully over direct heat. I made sure they had a nice crispy sear all around, since that's a big source of flavor. I was also cautious not to overcook them, grilling them until they were just cooked through, or a little undercooked, so the insides would be as tender and juicy as can be.

After the meatballs were done I transferred them to a large bowl and threw some slices of bell pepper on the now empty grill. I cooked those until they were lightly softened, then diced them up and added them in with the meatballs. I poured on the sweet and sour sauce next and tossed to coat everything evenly.

I'll admit, these weren't on of the most beautiful things I've grilled, but they were damn tasty. The meatballs were beefy, tender, and had just enough seasoning to give them a distinctly Asian flavor profile. The sweet and sour sauce then delivered a sugary contrast to the savory meat, while adding a nice tanginess and fruitiness that made these fit in nicely at the Tiki-themed Meatwave I was throwing. They made for great party food, just like the cocktail meatballs that inspired them—you probably wouldn't eat a plate of these for dinner, but there's something great about having a few within a smorgasbord of other options as well.

Published on Tue Mar 3, 2015 by Joshua Bousel

You Might Also Like