March is one of my favorite months. Not only because you get a slight glimmer of hope from the 40 degree weather in Chicago and that winter is almost over, but that it’s MARCH MADNESS! Man do I love college sports, and especially college basketball when it’s tournament time. I always have a few fellas over and we eat and watch basketball all day long, it’s a grown man’s bliss! When having buddies over to eat and watch games, I always try different things because why not? Sure there are the staples of wings, nachos and pizza, but I always like to make something a little bit different.
I know what you’re thinking, meatballs are not anything different from the norm, but I guarantee my Asian Meatballs with Sweet Soy sauce are. Even I was shocked when I took my first bite. The explosion of umami flavors literally made my mouth feel like the Garden of Eden, it was DELICIOUS! The perfect combo of onion, garlic, ginger, soy, shiitake and spice left nothing more to be desired, period!
In addition to the meatballs being delicious, they were actually pretty easy to make. Simply remove the stems of the shiitake mushrooms and add them to a food processor along with some fresh ginger, sweet onion and garlic cloves and pulse until it becomes almost like a paste. The shiitake mushrooms will act as an excellent filler for both flavor and moistness for the meatballs. If you’ve seen any of my other meatball recipes you’ll notice that I add soaked bread to my recipe to ensure they are moist, well the shiitake’s do that very same thing only with more delicious flavor. If you wanted to explore a little, you could add in some oyster mushrooms for an even more delicious flavor!
Once your shiitake paste, if you will, is done, simply add it to a large bowl with all of the other delicious ingredients and get to rolling. Once rolled out, you bake’em up at 375°, then toss them in a little Kecap Manis (Indonesian Sweetened Soy Sauce), sprinkle on a little garnish and you’re done and ready to eat. I cannot stress enough how dang good these meatballs are, they will literally make your friends beg you to make more. You could even take it a step further and throw them in a warm pita shell with some Kimchi to further blow your friends minds. You’re welcome :-).
Super easy to serve with toothpicks or put them on a spoon for a nice single serving twist!
Last but not least a nice big picture for you to pin!
Get more recipes and other great mushroom tips at MushroomInfo.com.
- 12 to 14 large shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
- ½ sweet onion
- ½” inch chunk of peeled fresh ginger
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 pound of ground pork
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 3½ cups of Panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup of sliced green onions + more for garnish
- 1½ tablespoons of Sriracha sauce
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons of sesame oil
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- 1 cup of Kecap Manis or Sweetened Soy Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Add the shiitake mushrooms, sweet onion, ginger and garlic to a food processor and process on high until it becomes paste like.
- Add the shiitake mushroom mixture to a large bowl along with the ground pork, ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, sliced green onions, Sriracha, soy, salt and pepper and mix until completely combined.
- Next, roll out and form mini meatballs and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Drizzle the sesame oil over the top of all of the meatballs and place the pan in the oven and cook for 35 minutes or until golden brown and cooked throughout.
- Add the cooked meatballs to a large bowl along with the Kecap Manis and toss until they are completely coated.
- Garnish the top of each meatball with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.