Spicy, Sticky Gochujang Meatballs

We often get asked for recipes, especially with our pork mince. Many of us go for a staple weeknight meal – but we thought you’d all love this creative recipe by blogger @ellie.eatseverything. It uses plenty of spices, including one of our favourite Korean staples: Gochujang. You can find this at any Asian supermarket!

SPICY STICKY GOCHUJANG MEATBALLS

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

250 g Pork Mince
½ tbsp Gochujang Paste
3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and crushed
4 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp Ginger, grated
2 tsps Salt
2 tsps White Pepper
Handful of Coriander, roughly chopped
1 Egg
50 g Panko Breadcrumbs
1 tbsp Magi All Purpose Sauce
1 tsp Chinese Five Spice

For the Sticky Sauce

8 tbsps Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Gochujang Paste
2 Garlic clove, peeled and crushed
4 tbsps Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2cm Knob of Ginger, grated
3 tsps Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tbsp Water
Handful of Coriander, roughly chopped for garnish
2 Spring Onions, thinly sliced for garnish
Sesame Seeds, for garnish

Serving Recommendation

Crispy Fried Egg
Jasmine Rice
Grilled Pak Choi
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 50℃
2. Begin by combining all of the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl. Scrunch well with your hands so everything is mixed together, you want the mince to look like a paste.
3. Set a plate aside then run your hands briefly under cold water to dampen a little. Take a small handful of the mince mixture and begin rolling it around in your palms to form a ball - you ideally want them the size of a ping pong ball. Set on the plate and continue until all of the mixture has been used up.
4. Set a skillet or wide frying pan on a medium heat with 1 tbsp of oil, when smoking gently add in a few of the balls, you don’t want to over crowd the pan as you want them to fry, not boil. You many have to do this in batches. Fry the meatballs, turning every 4mins, once they feel firm and have browned on all sides, transfer to a baking dish or tray and place in the warm oven whilst you do the next batch. Continue until all of the balls are cooked. Keep the skillet aside for later.
5. Whilst the balls are cooking you can set a smaller saucepan on a medium heat and add in the brown sugar, gochujang paste, garlic, soy sauce, grated ginger, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Stir well and allow to come to a gentle boil - this should take around 10mins.
6. Once the sauce has started to reduce, mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl, whisking to combine then pour into the sauce. This will help thicken the sauce up a little quicker and give it a lovely glossy finish. Stir well, you will feel the sauce thicken pretty much instantly; then pour into the skillet from earlier on. Set on a medium heat.
7. Add in the meatballs from the oven and toss to make sure they are all coated in that lovely sticky sauce. Sprinkle over some of the chopped coriander and a handful of sesame seeds.
8. Spoon into bowls, sprinkling a final flourish of spring onions, sesame seeds and coriander over them. I recommend serving this with jasmine rice, topped with a fried egg and some greens to cut through the sweetness. Absolutely delicious!
 

Thank you so much to @ellie.eatseverything for letting us share your delicious recipe! For more of Ellie’s foodie creations, make sure to visit her recipe page and her Instagram page