Meatball Recipe

In the Middle Eastern countries, lamb is most often used to make meatballs. Lean, minced lamb therefore, makes the tastiest mincemeat balls for exotic Arabian cuisine. Here are a few recipes from the Middle Eat, Far East and Mexico.

Iranian Sweet and Sour Meatballs

You need:

250 grams lamb
100 grams lentils
5 eggs – 4 of these hardboiled, shelled and chopped
6 prunes (stoned)
2 onions, sliced
One tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons oil
1 cup meat stock

Spices:
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
A pinch of saffron
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp flaked almonds
6 tbsp wine vinegar
Juice of 3 lemons
100 grams sugar

Dice the meat, put into a pan with the washed lentils, add water, salt and the spices, and simmer for one hour. After the meat is tender, drain the meat and keep the stalk aside.

Mince the meat and the lentils in a mincer.

Now add the chopped boiled egg, the raisins, almonds, and the raw egg into the minced meat and make dough out of it. Shape into balls and deep fry.

Fry the sliced onions in the butter and add the meat stock, vinegar, lemon juice and sugar. Add the liquid from the meat cooked earlier. Boil the sauce on low heat, and then season it with salt.

Serve with steamed basmati rice.

Chinese Pork Meatballs

You need:

500 grams minced pork
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
2 courgettes, trimmed and diced
4 baby corn, halved lengthwise
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece of root ginger, minced
Fresh ground black pepper
4 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Mix together the pork mince, the coriander, half the garlic and 1 tbsp soy sauce.

Divide into 25 portions and roll into balls. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Then deep fry these balls in a wok, for about 10 minutes, rolling them over occasionally so they are browned on all sides.

With a slotted spoon, remove the balls and drain on a paper.

In the oil in the wok, add the remaining garlic and ginger and stir fry 30 seconds. Add the peppers; stir fry for another 5 minutes. Then add the sweet corn and courgettes and fry for another 3 minutes. Now put the meatballs into the wok with the rest of the vegetables. Add the sesame oil and stir fry everything together, tossing and mixing well.

Serve on a bed of fresh noodles

Mexican Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

750 grams shoulder of veal
750 grams pork
200 grams onions, finely chopped
4 eggs, half boiled and chopped
2 eggs, raw, beaten
100 grams olives, cleaned and stoned
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper

Tomato Sauce:
2 kgs tomatoes, skinned, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
Coriander and chili powder
Salt to taste

Mince the meat finely, mixed together.

In hot oil, cook the onions till transparent. Add to the meat with olives, chopped eggs, salt, pepper, beaten eggs, working the mixing into smooth dough. Rest it for a while, and then shape into balls. Resting them is important so that the balls don’t break when they are being cooked.

Poach these balls in bouillon (flavored stock).

For the sauce, mix the tomatoes with garlic, chili and salt. Add to the usual tomato sauce.
These meatballs can be served with Mexican rice, accompanied with the sauce.