Pork Sesame Metaballs

The boy loves any kind of meatballs with noodles. Who doesn’t?

500g pork mince

4 spring onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 egg, beaten

3tbsp dark soy sauce

5tbsp sesame seeds

1tbsp oil

450g Pak Choi, cut into 1.5cm slices

3 x 150g packs of ‘ready to wok’ noodles

160g pack of ‘sweet chilli’ stir fry sauce.

This is an after work recipe that uses a few short cuts – notably the noodles and the stir fry sauce, If you can’t find ‘sweet chilli’, use a Sichuan sauce instead. If you can’t see anything that looks like this, feel free to use what you can find. It will not taste the same but will probably be just as good. I’m sure the boy would be just as happy with chow-mein or sweet & sour sauce.

 ‘Ready to wok’ noodles are pre-cooked, oiled noodles. If you can’t find them, just cook regular noodles and dress them in oil so they don’t stick, while you’re waiting to use them.

Put the pork mince, spring onions, egg and 1bsp soy sauce in a bowl and mix well with your hands. Make around 30 balls and put them on plate. Refrigerate for 30 mins so they firm up.

Put the sesame seeds on another plate and then roll the balls over the seeds so they pick up plenty. It’s easy to become obsessed with how evenly they do this. Don’t – just make sure they pick up plenty.

Heat the oil and cook the meatballs, stirring frequently for about 12 minutes or until cooked through. They will look nicely browned. Remove and keep warm.

Wipe the pan with kitchen paper and add a little more oil. Stir fry the pak choi for about 2 minutes, or until it wilts. Add the noodles and the stir fry sauce. Toss it well for about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the soy sauce. Give it a stir and introduce the meatballs to their new friends.

The boy loves Polpette with spaghetti so he should like this. He’d remarkably adept with chopsticks, which is surprising given how clumsy he is generally.