This recipe is easy to make, healthy and the lemon grass, ginger, and cilantro really surprise the palate, in a good way of course! I first made these for my housewarming in my new apartment and they were truly a hit, everyone asked for the recipe so here you go. As party hors d’oeuvres, I made smaller meatballs and wrapped a piece of butter lettuce around it securing with a toothpick. As a mid-week meal I make them larger and serve on top of lettuce. You could also ditch the lettuce if that’s not your thing and serve them over rice or with any vegetable.

1 pound ground chicken

1 egg

2-4 tablespoon of unseasoned bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1×1 inch piece of ginger, grated

1 reed of lemon grass, white part only, finely chopped; or 1 tablespoon lemon grass paste

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

2-3 green onions chopped, including green tops

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, or about 5-6 grinds of the mill

grapeseed oil or refined virgin coconut oil (refined does not have coconut flavor) for frying meatballs (note – you can use corn oil here but grapeseed and coconut oils have higher smokepoints and are better for frying at high temperatures)

Butter lettuce leaves to serve

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (not the frying oil or lettuce obviously!) with a wooden spoon or with your hands is preferable. Start with only 2 tablespoons of the bread crumbs, if mixture feels too wet, add more one tablespoon at a time but do not add more than 4 total. I usually don’t add more than 2, even if mixture is a bit sticky, too much bread crumbs will dry them out. I do not add salt to this dish because the soy and fish sauce contain sufficient salt, even the low-sodium version is enough for my taste, but feel free to add salt to your liking. Heat the frying oil in a large frying pan, and shape meat mixture into 1×1 inch balls. If mixture is sticky, it helps to keep a bowl of cold water near by and wet your hands before rolling each meatball. Fry meatballs for 3-4 minutes on each side for a total of 10-12 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly inside and golden brown outside. Drain meatballs on papertowel and serve on top of lettuce leaves. Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro leaves if you like. Serve with asian dipping sauce (recipe below).

Asian Dipping Sauce

3 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons of rice vinegar

3 tablespoons of fish sauce

1 green onion finely sliced (white and green parts)

I tend not to measure things unless I’m baking, so these measurements are approximate! Mix all ingredients together in small bowl and serve along side the meatballs. Enjoy!