MEATBALLS IN SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

Even if I like lumpia shanghai with sweet and sour sauce, I don’t like sweet and sour meatballs or pork. I guess it’s because the meat is drenched in the sauce, and I would rather have control over the amount of sauce. Especially since many restaurants make their sauces sickeningly sweet. I rather enjoy this recipe, which I adapted from Nora Daza’s, because it has a hint of heat as a backnote.

For the meatballs:

500gms ground pork

1 slice of bread, cubed small and soaked in app 1tbsp milk (just enough to moisten)

3/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp onion powder

1 chicken cube (grind to a powder)

3 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp pepper

1 egg

Mix together and form into a golf-sized ball. Chill for at least 20 minutes before frying. Set aside. Reserve cooking oil for the sauce.

Makes approximately 14 balls

For sauce:

1 clove garlic, sliced

1/2 small onion, french cut

1"x1" piece of ginger, sliced

1 banana chili pepper, sliced

1 small carrot, cut into half moons

1 green pepper, cut into squares

1/2 cup pineapple, cut into chunks

1/2 cup pickle juice

1/2 cup white sugar (you can reduce by as much as half if you like, since the pickle juice will already be slightly sweet)

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp catsup

1 tbsp hot sauce (use as much or as little as you want)

1 tbsp corn starch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water

In a bowl, stir together pickle juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, catsup, and hot sauce. Set aside. In the same pan where meatballs were fried, drop in garlic, onion, chili pepper and ginger. Saute until soft and fragrant. Add carrots, saute until glistening, and pour in sauce. Let simmer until slightly thickened and carrots cooked. Add cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water and stir until it boils again. Keep adding cornstarch mixed with water until desired consistency achieved, add the bell pepper and pineapple. Add cooked meatballs. Let simmer for at least 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.