Baked Chicken Balls

Even since the breaking news of horse meat meatball scandal 3 years ago, I stopped buying any forms of frozen meatballs. I reckon it is 'safer' and healthier to make my own meatballs at home. The ingredients for meatballs can be very basic: minced meat plus some basic seasonings. Nevertheless you can always 'add-on' and 'size-up' for the elaborate version by adding your favorite ingredients to the chicken paste.

I like greens, hence I added some finely chopped scallion, chili and diced carrot to the chicken paste. The greens have indeed added some extra crunch and natural sweetness to the meatballs. Not to mention, the colors are very appealing too. To hold the chicken paste better, it is always a good idea to add in an egg and some flour to the meat mixture. This will help to prevent the meatballs from falling apart in the cooking process. Also, the meatballs will be firmer in texture too.

I usually pan fried my meatballs, but for this time round, I attempted to bake them instead. They turned out perfectly and tasted as good as the fried version. I first fill the baking tray with a thin layer of cooking oil. This is follow by arranging the meatballs on the baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes under 175c. Turn the meatballs and bake for another 5-8 minutes until the whole meatballs turn golden brown.

Ingredients
350g chicken mince (or minced pork)
1 stalk of scallion (finely chopped)
1 medium size carrot (diced)
1 chili (finely chopped)
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of sugar
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 egg
salt & pepper to taste
cooking oil

Directions
1. In a big mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients together except for the all purpose flour.
2. Stir the mixture in clockwise direction (stir in one direction only) till it turned to paste form. You may stop the stir process once the meat paste turn slightly gluey.
3. Now, add in the all purpose flour and mix well.
4. Use both your palms to shape the meat paste into ball size.
5. Place the meatballs on the baking tray with a thin layer of cooking oil and bake for 15 minutes under 175c.
6. Turn the meatballs and bake for another 5-8 minutes until the whole meatballs turn golden brown.

You can enjoy the baked meatballs as it is or with some dipping sauce. I prefer to enjoy mine with the Thai sweet chili sauce. Usually I will make a few batches extra which I store in the freezer for later use. I use them for my favorite sweet-sour meatball dish. Check out the recipe Here.