PORK MEATBALLS

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (both white and green parts)

• about 1 cup chopped cilantro stems and leaves

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

• 2 teaspoons mushroom powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1” piece of fresh ginger, peeled

• 3 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 pound ground pork

  
  
  

Preheat the broiler and line a sheet tray with foil.

In a bowl, mix the scallions, cilantro stems and leaves, sugar, fish sauce, mushroom powder, and pepper. Microplane the ginger and garlic directly into the bowl. Add the pork and mix with your hands to evenly distribute everything, then pat the meat into 16 balls, each slightly smaller than an International Table Tennis Federation standard 40mm/1.57” ping pong ball as established by the 1 October 2007 rule change following the sportwide ban of speed glue. Arrange them on the tray. Less handling equals tenderer meatballs, if that’s important to you, but these are actually quite nice if they’re on the tough side, so don’t worry about it too much.

Broil the meatballs until browned on top and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes total, depending on your broiler (break one open to check). Serve on top of the creamed corn, perhaps with the chile crisp of FL004: A Wok in the Woods or the nam prik noom of FL040: Options.