Juicy, savory pork meatballs in a spicy Thai green curry sauce
I’m pretty much a fan of all things Thai, spicy and slathered in coconut milk. It’s like Asian comfort food that is actually good for you. (Sorry, General Tso!) There’s a fabulous little Asian market located conveniently on the same street as my favorite farmers market so I swing by to pick up my curry pastes there every time I’m running low. Nowadays, you can usually find some kind of curry paste at a regular grocery store, but I prefer the more authentic version. For this recipe, I used the GREEN curry paste, but the pic below is the same brand.
Adding the fresh factor by using cilantro and Thai Basil to both the meatballs and the sauce is absolutely necessary to get the authentic flavor. If you can’t find Thai Basil, regular basil works fine, but the Thai basil has a peppery taste to it that’s divine. I am so happy I planted it in my garden this spring! And for the love of Thai goddesses everywhere, PLEASE use full fat coconut milk. The low fat crap is just that….crap! As for the meatballs, for all you non-pork eaters, feel free to substitute ground beef, turkey or chicken and you’ll still max out the flavah! Adding the cooked rice to the mixture binds the meat instead of using breadcrumbs and/or egg.
You can even turn the meat mixture into a meatloaf to change it up— just be careful not to dry it out in the oven. What makes these meatballs so great is that they’re browned in a pan with a bit of butter and canola oil to get that nice caramelized outside, then finished off in the oven.
The sauce is fantastic, (if not even better) the next day, so sometimes I double the recipe to have more for leftovers, since the hungry man I live with doesn’t exactly leave much in the pan after his, uh, 3rd helping!
This dish is beautiful to look at and is always a show stopper for guests!
- 1 pound ground pork (you can sub turkey, beef or chicken)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tb fresh cilantro
- 2 Tb fresh Thai Basil (regular basil is fine if you can't find Thai Basil)
- 1 Tb fresh ginger
- 1 Tb soy sauce or Tamari
- 2 Thai chilis minced
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 cup cooked Jasmine rice
- 1 tsp coriander
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 Tb butter
- 1 Tb canola oil
- Rice noodles/Pad Thai noodles
- 1 Tb canola oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1-2 Tb green curry paste (if you don't like too much spice, start with 1 Tb, you can always add more)
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
- 2 Tb brown sugar
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1/4 lime zested
- 1 Tb soy sauce
- Preheat oven to 375
- Add all the ingredients (except the butter and oil) to the ground pork. Gently fold to mix, but do not overwork or the mixture will get tough.
- Shape into meatballs (golf ball size or smaller)
- Heat up butter and oil in frying pan on med/high heat until butter is bubbly.
- Add meatballs to the pan the brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. (They will not be cooked through)
- Put meatballs onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until cooked through. The smaller the meatballs, the faster they'll cook.
- While meatballs are cooking, saute garlic cloves and green curry paste in 1 Tb canola oil in a saucepan for about a minute on medium/high heat until you start to smell the curry. Stir frequently so garlic doesn't burn!
- Add in coconut milk, heavy cream, ginger, brown sugar, soy, lime juice and zest. Bring to a simmer so sauce thickens.
- Serve sauce over rice noodles/Pad Thai noodles and put meatballs on top.
- Garnish with extra chopped mint and cilantro.
- Heavy cream is optional, but I think it gives the sauce a better mouth feel-- it's a bit thicker and richer.
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