A friend of mine I met through Twitter—Zach Brooks aka @midtownlunchla—once told me there was no way I would ever be able to take a pretty picture of this monstrosity . . . and for the time being, he’s STILL right. But it’s delicious anyway.
2–4 SERVINGS
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¼ tablespoon nutmeg
1 large egg
½ cup milk
1 cup panko
2 pounds 80–20 ground chuck
½ yellow or white onion, minced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
⅓ pound carrots, peeled and sliced
4½ cups Japanese Curry Roux or Prepackaged Curry!
½ onion, diced
1 ear fresh corn, off the cob
BALLS OUT
40–80 SERVINGS
5 tablespoons ground black pepper
¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons kosher salt
3¾ tablespoons nutmeg
15 large eggs
7½ cups milk
15 cups panko
30 pounds 80–20 ground chuck
7½ yellow or white onions, minced
30 potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
5 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced
16¾ quarts plus ½ cup Japanese Curry Roux or Prepackaged Curry!
7½ onions, diced
15 ears fresh corn, off the cob
1. In a bowl, mix together black pepper, salt, and nutmeg, which helps evenly distribute dry spices later in the process—a nice trick we picked up in our not-so-illegal-anymore days of trying to be “pros” and getting better at what we do.
2. Next, beat egg in a separate bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine milk and panko in a separate bowl large enough to hold the beef. Add ground beef, minced onions, and egg and combine with dry spice mix. Mix as evenly as possible.
4. Form large meatballs about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Set aside on a tray.
5. Set up a bowl with an ice water bath.
6. In a pot, boil 3 inches of water on high heat. Add potatoes and boil for 5–7 minutes, or until cooked through but still firm. Once cooked, remove potatoes from pot and shock in ice water bath for 2 minutes. Remove, shake off excess water, and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
7. Next, add carrots and boil for 3–5 minutes, and repeat the same steps as for potatoes. Set aside with potatoes.
8. Heat curry in a pot over medium heat.
9. Heat a pan/wok with some oil over high heat and sauté onions until lightly browned. Transfer to curry. Next, sauté corn in the same pan for about 1–2 minutes until slightly cooked through. Transfer to curry pot. Then add potatoes for a quick sear, transfer to curry. Add carrots for a quick sear, then transfer to curry.
10. Next, sauté meatballs for 5–7 minutes, or until brown all around. Meatballs should be cooked partially through. Add to curry. Simmer over medium heat for 20–30 minutes.
Serve over a bed of rice, or as an oh-so-very-messy-but-incredibly-satisfying Banh Mi sandwich, just like we used to do back in our lunch days.
Well, FUCKING MAKE IT YOURSELF, NGUYEN TRAN!
—KITCHEN NINJA
