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Asian meatballs in a pan of sauce with sesame seeds and green onions

Easy Asian Meatballs with Sauce

Satisfy your cravings for Asian flavors with these easy and delicious Asian meatballs, topped with a savory sauce. Perfect for a weeknight dinner or as a party appetizer!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

For the meatballs
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • ½ tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup breadcrumbs, plain
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1 green onions sliced
For the Sauce
  • ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup mirin
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoon sesame oil
For serving and garnish
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
  • green onions, sliced
  • cucumber slices
  • cooked white or jasmine rice

Method
 

Make the meatballs
  1. Preheat your oven to 375F
  2. Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl and stir until well combined. Do not overmix!
  3. Roll the mixture in to 20 meatballs and place on a foil-lined baking tray
  4. Bake the meatballs for 25-30 minutes or until fully cooked
Make the sauce
  1. While the meatballs are cooking, combine all of the ingredients EXCEPT the sesame oil in a saucepan.
  2. Whisk the mixture well to make sure there are no lumps from the cornstarch.
  3. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat,
  4. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens
  5. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the sesame oil
Serve
  1. Toss the meatballs with the sauce to coat thoroughly
  2. Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds
  3. Serve over rice with sliced cucumbers

Notes

Notes:

You can substitute ground chicken for the ground pork but you will want to add more breadcrumbs as ground chicken is "wetter" than ground pork.
Adjust the sweetness of the sauce by adding more or less mirin.
If you can't find mirin at your store you can buy it online or substitute sake, a dry sherry or a sweet marsala wine. You can also use dry white wine, but then you would need to add about a tablespoon of sugar 
If the sauce is still too thin after simmering, make a slurry of 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water and add it to the sauce and cook for another minute (DO NOT just add cornstarch to the hot sauce as it will clump. Make the slurry!)
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.