Thai-Style Baked Pork Meatballs With Coconut Broth
Thai Baked Pork Meatballs with lemongrass, chili, and ginger are juicy and full of flavor but much easier (and healthier) to cook as they're oven-baked meatballs and not fried.
Equipment
- 1 Oven-proof dish or tray
Ingredients
Thai baked pork meatballs
- 500 grams (1 lb) pork mince 5% fat
- 1 egg
- 75 grams (½ cup) panko breadcrumbs
- 2 stalks lemongrass finely diced, fresh
- 2 chili finely diced, fresh
- 1 shallot grated, fresh
- 2 cloves garlic grated, fresh
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated, fresh
- 2 tablespoon coriander/cilantro stems reserve leaves for garnish
- 1 teaspoon lime zest grated
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Coconut broth
- 100 grams (6 tablespoon) creamed coconut
- 400 ml (1½ cups) chicken broth or pork/vegetable
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 lime (juice)
Instructions
For the meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 175°C/345°F (no fan) and grease a large oven-safe dish with coconut oil or line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Finely dice the lemongrass, chili pepper, and coriander/cilantro stems. Grate the lime zest, garlic, shallot, and ginger and place them all into a mixing bowl.
- Stir in the egg yolk, minced pork mince, and panko breadcrumbs until thoroughly combined.
- Shape the meatballs by scooping out the mix with an ice cream scoop, and squeezing it gently between your hands, then rolling into a ball.
- Place the meatballs onto the baking dish or tray, and bake for 15 minutes. As you put them in, throw around 100ml or half a cup of water onto the base of the oven to create some steam in the environment and keep them moist.
For the coconut broth
- While the meatballs are cooking, heat the chicken broth in a saucepan, then whisk in the creamed coconut until it dissolves into the liquid.
- Add the fish sauce and lime juice, and then season with soy sauce to taste.
- Plate the Thai baked pork meatballs on a bed of rice, place the meatballs on top, and ladle over the broth.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- I use 5% fat pork mince, which is pretty lean, but they stay juicy!
- Use panko breadcrumbs as they are larger and drier, which means they absorb more moisture and keep it in the meatballs. Alternatively, crush up some croutons.
- You need creamed coconut that comes in blocks packaged in a box, not coconut cream, which is liquid and a different ingredient sold in a can.
- I use soy sauce instead of salt; you can also just use salt.
- It can help to refrigerate the meatball mix for 30 minutes before shaping to get them nice and round.
- Don't be tempted to crank the oven higher, this can dry the meatballs out.
- Create steam by throwing 100ml/half a cup of water onto the base of the oven or a tray on the shelf below when you put the Thai meatballs in. You can repeat this halfway through cooking, too, if you like.
- I bake pork meatballs in a cast iron oven dish greased with coconut oil. But you can also line them up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- The internal temperature of the meatballs needs to reach 71°C/160°F
Nutrition
Serving: 4meatballsCalories: 416kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 19gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 543mgPotassium: 481mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 151IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
