Asian Chicken Meatballs Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my chicken meatballs dense? ›

A small amount of breadcrumbs, no more than 1/4 cup of fine crumbs per pound of meat, hold in the juices. Adding, more bread crumbs makes for a heavy and dense meatball so keep the bread crumbs to a minimum.

Some of the Bò Viên brands you would find at Asian stores are very chewy due to the hàn the (borax) that is added. In oriental cooking, hàn the used as a cooking ingredient is to add a firm rubbery texture to the food, or as a preservative.

The Vietnamese (squished) meatballs are just made with pork, garlic, sugar, fish sauce*, salt, pepper and scallions/green onions. Fish sauce is the key seasoning here, and the touch of sugar that makes the surface beautifully caramelised.

Add a lightly beaten egg, but not too much. Egg acts as a binder for the ingredients, but you only need a small amount. One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder.

ANSWER: Usually when meatballs fall apart, it's the binder that is the problem. Most meatball recipes call for using bread crumbs and eggs.

Homemade chicken meatballs are far healthier than pork or beef meatballs. Chicken is leaner and contains less fat.

Roll the mixture gently, just until it comes together to form a ball. How Do I Know When the Baked Chicken Meatballs Are Done? The meatballs only take about 20 minutes in the oven. Bake them just until an instant-read thermometer reads the internal temperature as 165°F (74°C).

Too much egg, therefore, is not a good thing. It will make your meatballs spongy and over-absorbent (in a bad way), so that they run a high risk of being soggy and too heavy. As a general rule of thumb, one to two eggs per pound of meat should do the trick. If your recipe calls for more egg than that, beware.

You only need a small amount of egg – it's there only to help the cooked meatball retain its shape, and shouldn't detract from the meat's flavour or texture. Filler ingredients like breadcrumbs or flour are important too because they stop the meatballs becoming dry.

Traditional Italian meatballs are made with a mix of ground beef, pork and veal with soaked stale bread squeezed dry and chopped for tenderness.

What meat do they eat in Asia? ›

While pork is often favored in China, beef is often favored in central Asian countries and chicken in Asian countries where Hindu's preside (they cannot eat beef) or Muslims preside (they cannot eat pork). Pork, beef, and chicken are all popular in many South-East Asian countries.

Ingredients. The key ingredient of hoisin sauce is fermented soybean paste. Some hoisin sauce ingredients include starches such as sweet potato, wheat and rice, and water, sugar, soybeans, sesame seeds, white distilled vinegar, salt, garlic, red chili peppers, and sometimes preservatives or coloring agents.