Rib Tips: Asian Pork Meatballs

When are ribs boneless and shaped into a meatball?

When they are Asian Pork Meatballs, that's when!

Here is my second use for using the rib tips leftover from trimming spare ribs. I used some of the ground pork that I made from rib tips and pork loin the other day and used them in this dish inspired by Kim's Stirring The Pot, one of my favorite food blogs.

Asian Pork Meatballs with Spicy Noodle

Meatballs
1.25 lb ground pork
3/4 cup coarse bread crumbs (plain bread crumbs will do, but hand torn bread is better)
1 shallot, diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2 Tbsp chives, chopped
4 tsp sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
1/4 tsp ginger, fresh ground
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp Sriracha sauce

Noodle Sauce
1 Tbsp chopped chives
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp ginger, fresh minced
1 oz sherry
2 oz soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 cup spicy pork stock
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp cold water

8 oz vermicelli or other noodles

Since I was grinding my own meat, I ground the pork with the other dry ingredients and then added the fish, soy, and Sriracha sauce. If you are using already ground pork, just mix it all together.

Form 12-15 balls and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to let them "set" or "sit" (depends if you'ns are from the South).


Set up your grill for direct heat at 350f and sear your balls in a cast iron Dutch oven until browned, about 10 minutes. (Indoor subtitle: Brown in a pan over medium high heat.)


Remove them to a sheet pan and return them to the grill still at 350f but with indirect heat. Bake them for 20-25 minutes until they reach in internal temp of 165f. (Indoor subtitle: Bake in an 350f oven)


Meanwhile, cook your noodles according to directions on the package and keep warm.

Go back to direct heat at 350f and heat 1 Tbsp of peanut oil in a wok. Add the chives, ginger, garlic and sriracha sauce. Cook, stirring constantly for about 15 seconds. Add the sherry, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and stock. Bring to a simmer for 3 minutes.

Whisk the starch and water together in a slurry. Stir into the mixture. Add the meatballs to the sauce and let cook for another 1-2 minutes until thickened.

Serve meatballs and sauce over noodles.

The results were powerfully good. The level of heat was just perfect for me, which meant it was too spicy for my youngest boy. If you don't like spicy heat, cut the Sriracha sauce in the meatballs down in half or less.