The first time I made these I just sort of threw them together, I didn’t take great notes and I didn’t get a picture. Of course Jesse loved them (and so did I) and said they had to go on the blog, so I had to do my best to recreate them. The second time they turned out even better than the first and we’ve since had them twice in a month. That’s a sure sign of winner in our house.
I wanted to call these “Hot, sticky, sweet” Asian meatballs. You know, after the song. But Jesse thought it sounded better with all S’s, so Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Asian Meatballs they are. Either way, it’s the best way to describe these. The chili garlic sauce gives the sauce a nice heat, which is also carried through in the meatballs. But the spicy flavor is balanced out with the sweet, sticky sauce and pop of fresh ginger.
In non-food related news, I’m headed to Boston tomorrow! What’s in Boston? The Irish Dancing World Championships, that’s what! I get to see my dance family that I’ve missed so much AND I get to watch my cousin dance in her first solo worlds competition. I couldn’t be more excited! I’ll let you know how it goes!
Spicy, Sticky, Sweet, Asian Meatballs
Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (more if you like a lot of heat)
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh grated ginger*
1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
1/4 cup and 1 Tbsp diced green onions, including whites, divided
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup mushrooms, finely diced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger*
2 tsp chili garlic sauce
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
sesame seeds for garnish
*Helpful Tip: Store ginger in the freezer. When you need it, just grate with a zester right off the frozen chunk!
Directions
In a small saucepan, whisk together the first group of ingredients (water through grated ginger). Heat over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil, then reduce heat medium-low and simmer until reduced and thickened.
While the sauce is thickening, combine the second group of ingredients (reserving one tablespoon of the green onion tops) in a medium bowl. Shape into 2-inch meatballs.
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook for about 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides evenly. Reduce heat to medium and pour in the sauce. Continue to cook for 5-10 minutes, or until a meatball cut in half is fully cooked/no longer pink, and the sauce coats the meatballs.
Serve hot over rice with steamed baby bok choy and sesame seeds and green onion tops for garnish.
Sunny Side Up Original
Here are some other cool Meatball recipes, all made with ground turkey instead of beef!
Greek Turkey Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
Southwest Turkey Meatballs
These look amazing – can’t wait to try them!
These look so delicious!
Have fun at the dance competition. I miss those so much!
Oh Jess, this looks aaaaaaaahhh—-may—zzzzzzing! This photo is absolutely beautiful!!
Yum! I could eat a whole bowl of these 🙂
Yum! These look super good.
Made these for dinner tonight and they were SO good. Definitely making again.
So glad you liked them!!
These look great! I love that you used ground turkey too! I’ll be making them 🙂
These are delicious! They will become a staple in my house!
So glad you liked them! Thanks for the review!
I tried these one night and was absolutely hooked, I make them all the time now! One thing I have noticed is I end up adding more panko than the recipe calls for, to get a little more texture in them. These are unreal and I encourage everyone to make them 🙂
Yum!!!
Hey Jessica! Thanks so much for creating this recipe. I made it last night for DH and ILs and everyone loved it! I made 1.5 batch in hopes of having some leftover for lunch but no such luck!
Hi there! Thanks for the recipe! I made this tonight and it was so easy and SO delicious!
I am trying to make this for 13 people but the recipe does not say how many it makes.
Thank you for this recipe and the tip on freezing ginger – I have it freezing in my freezer right now! I made these and they were delicious and lean. I used 99% lean, antibiotic-free ground turkey, and they still came out very moist. I added a few cloves of garlic to the meatball mixture and the sauce. I also omitted the vegetable oil from the meatballs and added in an extra egg white. I did not miss the oil. I had to skip the mushrooms and substitute a few chopped roasted red peppers, and that work out just fine. I also only had red onion, so I chopped half the onion and froze the rest of the chopped onion. I added half of the chopped onion to the meatballs and half to the sauce, and I’m glad I did, it caramelized in the pan and was delicious.
Would have been great over steamed jasmine rice and snow peas! Thanks again!
my family and i loved this only thing i did differently was thicken the sauce with corn starch and put red peppers instead of mushrooms (only thing i didnt have) it worked out perfectly
thank you for the recipe
I make these regularly, especially for parties! I usually swap in ground chicken instead of turkey, and sometimes I’ve added a little grated carrot to the mix for color. They are seriously so delicious–just wanted to say thanks for the recipe!