Red Curry Meatballs with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce are a delicious, healthy and fun meal. Serve with lettuce wraps for a quick and easy meal.
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| Red Curry Meatballs with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce |
I was inspired to make Red Curry Meatballs with a Vietnamese Dipping Sauce after trying a spicy meatball recipe from Monica Bhide’s Everything Indian cookbook, and seeing Kalyn’s Kitchen’s Thai-Inspired meatball recipe. I’ve been on a Southeast Asian kick lately, and have been experimenting with Thai red curry, so why not try them in meatballs.
In coming up with this recipe, I was reminded of the spiciness of Monica’s meatballs and the low-fat cooking method in her recipe. Likewise, I love Kaylyn’s idea of eating the meatballs in a lettuce wrap with a dipping sauce. Not only is this presentation pretty to look at, but it’s also fun to eat.
I thought of incorporating the flavors of the popular Thai snack, Tod Mun, typically made with fish. The typical ingredients for Tod Mun include red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves.
I wanted to lighten up the dish, so instead of deep-frying the meatballs, I followed Monica’s method of cooking the meatballs in some water first, and then browning them in a little oil afterwards. What resulted were juicy, tender meatballs.
To add some crunch and tang to the meatballs, I decided to serve the Red Curry Meatballs with Boston lettuce, and a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce, Nuoc Mam Chanh, made with garlic, chilies, fish sauce, and lime juice.
Red Curry Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 2 kaffir lime leaves thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon red curry paste
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound ground turkey and chicken
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Chanh)
- 1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek chili sauce
- 1 Thai chile finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- finely shredded carrots for garnish
For Serving
- Boston lettuce or leaf lettuce
Instructions
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Put shallots, lime leaves, curry paste, egg and salt in a food processor. Process until smooth. Combine well with ground turkey, cornstarch and cilantro.
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Wet both hands and make small meatballs, about 1″ in diameter. Heat 1/2 cup of water in a deep saucepan. Gently place meatballs in pan, and cook until water is just evaporated, turning meatballs after a few minutes to color all sides. Heat oil in a skillet. Brown meatballs and cook through.
Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Chanh)
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Mix all ingredients together.
To Serve
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To serve, place one or two meatballs on each lettuce leaf. Spoon sauce on top and eat!
Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
Your meatballs sound delicious. I do like that trick of cooking them in water, then browning. I hadn't seen that before. Too bad the three of us don't live on the same street, then we could invite each other over for dinner!
Thanks for the inspiration Kalyn. Cooking the meatballs in water first keeps them moist, it's a good trick. Wouldn't it be fun to have a bunch of foodies on the same street!
wow, trông nó thật hấp dẫn, tuyệt vời quá. Tôi không thể chờ đợi lâu hơn nữa, tôi phải làm ngay vào ngày mai và thưởng thức nó ngay thôi. cám ơn bạn đã chia sẻ.