Cheever Sauce

I don’t always post the food I make in the order I make it, so it’s a little coincidental that I am posting two soy sauce based, glazed dishes, one after another. I love these dishes because accompanying soy sauce with flavors like ginger and honey, really masks its strong flavor, that sometimes tends to be a little too much for me, and I’ll eat something that is “glazed” any day.

Anyway, meatballs are allll the rage right now. The Meatball Shop (yes for all your non-New Yorkers, there is a shop…in Manhattan….that just serves meatballs….) is sprouting up new locations faster than you can say polpetta. And I can’t turn my head without finding a restaurant that serves up this delectable fair. 

To tell you the honest truth, I’m not a huge meatball person. I totally dig the whole concept of them, but for some reason they never really stuck with me. I enjoy them at restaurants and when others make them, but not enough to cook up my own. But something really struck me about these scallions meatballs. An asian meatball seamed like such an antithesis of meatballs. Shouldn’t this Italian staple be covered in red sauce and cheese? I was intrigued, which meant only one thing, it was time to roll up my sleeves and cook my very first meatball. 

All I can say is that I am now hooked! They were super easy to make - just throw all the ingredients into a bowl, mix, and cook. Each bite was loaded with the flavors of sweet, juicy, and tangy meat. It tasted like an inside of the most perfect dumpling…in the best possible way. The sauce/glaze that accompanied them was beyond restaurant quality, and I ended up jarring some to cook with eggplant later in the week. These are a must try that I can’t recommend enough. :)

Read on for the delicious recipe adapted from Canal House Cooking:

These can be cooked either in a skillet like above or baked (the latter being the healthier option) 

Make sauce: Use 1/2 of a cup of all ingredients unless otherwise noted.

1. Bring dark brown sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar melts completely. 
2. Reduce heat to a medium-low and add soy sauce, mirin (I used white wine/sugar mixture), 1/4 cup of fresh grated ginger, black pepper to taste. 
3. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. 
4. Keep it on a back burner, stirring it frequently, while browning the meatballs in the next step. 

Make meatballs: 

1. Mix 1 lb of ground turkey, 1 head of chopped scallions, 1 handful of shopped cilantro, 1 egg, 3 count pour of sesame oil, 3 count pour of soy sauce and several grindings of black pepper in a bowl. Mix with a fork. 
2.  Roll tablespoon-sized knobs of the mixture into balls. 
3. In a skillet over medium-high heat, generously cover bottom of pan with vegetable oil. Working in batches to avoid crowding, place meatballs in pan and cook, turning, until browned all over and cooked inside, about 8 minutes per batch. 
4. Spoon a little sauce over each meatball, and enjoy!