Korean Cocktail Meatballs for the Holidays

• Meat

  • 2 oz Ground beef
  • 4 oz Ground pork

• Produce

  • 5 tsp Garlic
  • 1/8 tsp Ginger, powder
  • 3 Red chilies, dried

• Refrigerated

  • 1 Egg
  • 6 oz Waterless tofu

• Condiments

  • 2 tbsp Rice syrup
  • 2 tbsp Soy sauce, dark

• Baking & Spices

  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 1 tsp Red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp Sea salt
  • 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp Sugar

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1 tsp Sesame oil
  • 5 cups Vegetable oil or canola oil

• Bread & Baked Goods

  • 1 tbsp Panko bread crumbs or regular bread crumbs

• Dairy

  • 1 tbsp Milk

• Prepared

  • 3 tbsp Napa cabbage kimchi

• Beer, Wine & Liquor

  • 2 tbsp Rice wine or cooking sake

• Liquids

  • 1 tbsp Water

Found on kimchimari.com

Description

Ingredients

• 5-6 cups Vegetable oil or Canola oil for deep frying
• 4 oz ground pork
• 2 oz ground beef
• 6 oz waterless tofu, crumbled
• 3 Tbs napa cabbage kimchi, chopped
• 2 tsp garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs milk
• 1 Tbs panko bread crumbs or regular bread crumbs
• 1/8 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbs sesame seeds
• 2 Tbs dark soy sauce, jin ganjang
• 2 Tbs rice syrup
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 2 Tbs rice wine or cooking sake
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 dried red chilies (Japones Chile)
• 1 Tbs garlic, chopped

Directions

• In a sauce pan, heat sesame and vegetable oil on medium high heat. Add garlic and red chilis.
• Sauté garlic and red chili for 30 secs to 1 minute until slightly brown and fragrant.
• Add to garlic oil, remaining ingredients. Mix and bring to boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until slightly thick. Turn off heat and set aside.
• Finely chop napa cabbage kimchi. Set aside. (Kimchi should be fully fermented. See my No Crazy Kimchi post if you want to know more about how to ripen/ferment Kimchi properly)
• In a stand mixer, add pork, tofu, garlic, ginger powder, salt, baking powder. Whip mixture until smooth. Consistency should be pasty and everything should be pale pink color. This step is important in producing light, fluffy meatballs so make sure you whip it fully so that it looks like whipped butter – well almost.
• Add egg, milk, bread crumbs and whip until just everything is evenly mixed.
• Add beef and kimchi. Mix again until just combined but not whipped. You should still see bits of beef. Unlike the pork, we want ground beef to add texture so DO NOT over mix at this stage.
• Form balls by rolling them between your hands. You will get about 25 x 15g (0.5 oz) size meatballs.
• Store covered in fridge until ready to use. Should be good for 1 day.
• Fry at 325° F for 5 min. or so until outside is slightly browned. Frying time may vary based on size of meatball and temperature.
• When done, transfer fried meatballs to a pan on medium high heat. Quickly add soy glaze to pan and roll meatballs around to coat evenly. Just shake the pan from side to side. Use about 1 Tbs glaze sauce for about 14 meatballs. Sauce will reduce and coat meatballs at the same time. Take off heat once the sauce has disappeared.
• Finish by sprinkling sesame seeds in pan to coat meatballs. Could be served with extra sauce on the side.