START TO FINISH: 35 minutes
SERVINGS: 4
In Vietnam, meatballs are often skewered and grilled. But for a quick weeknight meal, a skillet does a fine job. You could serve these over steamed rice or rice vermicelli, but we liked them with herbs and lettuce leaves for wrapping, along with a lime juice and fish sauce mixture for drizzling. They’re also a great filling for our Vietnamese skirt steak sandwiches (see here).
Don’t be timid when mixing the pork; you want to vigorously stir it to compact it. This creates a pleasantly springy texture in the meatballs.
3 teaspoons grapeseed or other neutral oil, divided
1 pound ground pork
⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus sprigs, to serve
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
6 scallions, white and light green parts minced, dark green parts thinly sliced
5 tablespoons fish sauce, divided
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons white sugar, divided
½ cup lime juice
1 or 2 serrano chilies, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded (1 cup)
Lettuce leaves, to serve
Coat a large plate with 1 teaspoon of the oil; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the pork, 3 tablespoons water, cilantro, pepper, minced scallions, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and 2 teaspoons sugar. Mix vigorously with a silicone spatula until combined, 20 to 30 seconds. The mixture will be soft and sticky. With lightly moistened hands, form into 20 balls and place on the prepared plate. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the lime juice, the 3 remaining tablespoons fish sauce, the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the chilies until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
Line another plate with paper towels. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil until barely smoking. Add the meatballs and cook undisturbed until the bottoms are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, turn each meatball and continue to cook, adjusting the heat as needed and occasionally turning the meatballs, until golden brown all over, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the prepared plate, tent with foil and let rest 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice sauce. Serve the meatballs with the carrots, cilantro sprigs, sliced scallions and lettuce leaves for wrapping. Spoon the remaining sauce onto the wraps.