Pinch and Swirl

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Asian Pork Meatballs with Quick Pickled Vegetables and Spicy Mayonnaise

Filed Under: Appetizer, Asian Recipes, Fall & Winter, Main Course, Meatball Recipes, Party Food Ideas, Pork Recipes, Spring & Summer

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I don’t like to be pushy (hey, don’t laugh!), but you’ve really got to try these. I aim to share only my best recipes here, but this one is the best of the best.

If you love my Spicy Pork Meatballs or Crispy Baked Egg Rolls, you will love these. They’re a flavor explosion of pork, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and Thai basil. They also come together in just a few minutes, with the help of your food processor. And there is zero time at the stove – they’re cooked in the oven.

To get started, zizz the herbs and spices in the food processor and add them to the ground pork. With your hands, mix all of the meatball ingredients together and then scoop them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Meatballs Mixed Meatballs Shaped

The pickled vegetables are simple, you can make them while the meatballs bake.

These meatballs are delicious served in lettuce cups with quick pickled vegetables and spicy, sesame-sriracha mayonnaise. Or for quick party fare, skip the pickled vegetables and lettuce cups and serve the meatballs on the end of party toothpicks with a side of the spicy mayonnaise for dipping.

Print Recipe

Asian Pork Meatballs with Quick Pickled Vegetables and Spicy Mayonnaise

Serve these meatballs in lettuce cups or on the end of party toothpicks with spicy mayonnaise for dipping.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time22 mins
Total Time52 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Servings: 16 lettuce cups

Ingredients

For Meatballs:

  • 1 large clove garlic
  • 1 inch piece fresh ginger peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 stalk lemongrass roughly chopped (just the tender white center - top, bottom and outer leaves removed)
  • 1/2 ounce fresh Thai basil leaves a large handful
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For Quick Pickled Vegetables

  • 2 carrots cut into julienne strips
  • 1 daikon radish cut into julienne strips
  • 2 green onions chopped
  • 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For Spicy Sesame-Sriracha Mayonnaise

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise or homemade sesame mayonnaise (see recipe notes for recipe)
  • 2 tablespoons sriracha hot chili sauce
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil omit if using homemade sesame mayonnaise

For Lettuce Cups:

  • 1 head butter lettuce leaves separated

Instructions

To make the meatballs:

  • Preheat oven to 375°F
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
  • With the food processor running, through the shoot add garlic, ginger, lemon grass and basil. Process until minced.
  • Place ground pork in a medium bowl. Add garlic mixture from food processor bowl along with soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper. Using your hands, combine ingredients taking care not to overmix which would make your meatballs tough.
  • With a 3 tablespoon scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop out scant 1/4 cup portions of pork mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Once meatballs are portioned, quickly roll each between your palms to make rounds. Arrange meatballs on baking sheet with an inch or two of space between each one.
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.

To make the Quick Pickled Vegetables:

  • Combine carrot and daikon radish strips with rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Toss to coat.
  • Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make Spicy Sesame-Sriracha Mayonnaise:

  • In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sriracha and sesame oil.
  • Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble lettuce cups:

  • Arrange lettuce leaves on serving platter.
  • On each leaf, place about a tablespoon of Quick Pickled Vegetables, 1 teaspoon of Spicy Sesame-Sriracha Mayonnaise (or more) and one meatball. Serve.

Notes

Try this recipe for  Homemade Sesame Mayonnaise in place of store bought.
Tried this recipe?I'd love to see it! Tag me on Instagram at @pinchandswirl or leave me a comment and rating below.

 

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Comments

  2. I didn’t laugh, I swear. But I did smile!! A BIG smile.

    I know you share your best! Hey – there’s a reason I’m so addicted to your grilled cheese. I love that I know your recipes always work and taste incredible.

    Asian meatballs? You’ve convinced me. Do you know, I’ve never made Asian meatballs before? Was never confident about the recipe. This is the first one I’m going to make. 🙂 Sharing!

    Reply

  4. This is probably all kinds of sacrilegious, but I”m going to try these with my eggplant “meat”ball recipe! Sounds like these Asian flavors would pair perfectly with them.

    Reply

  5. Marissa, I *love* your posts. I’ve never heard of “zizz-ing” in my food processor, but whoo!!! it sounds exciting…, so girl, I’m sssooo doing it!!! And, these meatballs? You can count on it. These are so happening in my kitchen. Pinned, pinned, zizzed, then pinned again! 🙂 xoxo

    Reply

  6. What a wonderful idea Marissa! I always felt reluctant to cook the minced pork cups because they’re kind of messy to cook and eat. The meatballs idea is genius! It make the mouthfeel of the dish better and easy to serve at a party! Pinning and sharing

    Reply

  8. I love it!!! I love everything about this!!! Do you think Italian grandmothers did not have ovens and that’s why they didn’t use ovens for meatballs? Because aren’t meatballs in the oven just the best?!? I love this honey!!! Absolutely fantastic!!! I gotta try this quick pickling thing 🙂

    Reply

    • I think you may be on to something there, Mila. In a way I feel like I’m cheating when I cook them in the oven. But I honestly prefer the texture – even when I’m adding them to sauce.

      Reply

  10. Oh yum!!! I love the flavors going on in the meatballs; I’d have to sub chicken or turkey for the pork because hubs and I don’t eat it, but I think it would work fine. Love that you served these meatballs in lettuce cups too…I’m on a real lettuce cup kick lately!

    Reply

    • I think that turkey or chicken would work beautifully, Faith! In fact, I think I’ll try them that way next time. Lettuce cups are fun, aren’t they. An easy way to lighten up a dish and they’re so convenient for handheld food.

      Reply

  12. omg Marissa these look soooo good! You’ve got me sold! I am definitely going to try out this recipe for lunch this week. I love the fact that it’s a carb-free meal too as I already eat enough bread as it is :p

    Reply

  13. There’s that sesame mayo again 😉 I’m a huge fan of lettuce wraps, but I’ve never made them with meatballs – why have I not done this! This is not only so much easier than the way I do it, but so much flavor too! No appetizer for me, these are a full on meal!

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  14. Hi Marissa! I’m an appetizer addict! It’s just so much more fun to eat a variety of little things (like tapas). I like using lettuce as the delivery vehicle because it’s much less filling than bread or crackers, which means I can eat more of them! On the rare occasions we go out to eat I almost always order off the “starter” section of the menu, unless they have duck breast or rack of lamb which I can’t resist! As far as I’m concerned keep on being pushy! 🙂

    Reply

    • Haha – okay, I’ll keep being pushy. 🙂 And, you’re my kind of girl, Dorothy. We eat almost all of them, just Keith and I, and didn’t feel one bit guilty. We’re big on ordering from the starter menu or splitting a couple of dishes.

      Reply

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