Thai Spicy Pork And Rice Ball Salad Recipe

• One and half cups of steamed jasmine rice
  (let it cool before using)
• 250g (9 ounces) of minced pork
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
  (We used Mae Ploy brand, but any is fine)
• 1 medium sized egg
• 1/4 cup of grated coconut
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped lime leaves
  
• 1/2 tea spoon of salt
• 1/2 tea spoon of sugar
• 1 cup of tempura flour
  

Special Cooking Equipment Used

• mixing bowl
  
• deep fryer
  

Cooking instructions

Step 1: Add the minced pork, steamed rice, red curry paste, and chopped lime leaves into a bowl and mix everything together thoroughly by hand. Then add 1 egg and continue mixing. Once the egg has been mixed into the meat, add the the grated coconut. Ensure the ingredients are as evenly mixed as possible.

Step 2: Once you have done this, its time to make the batter. Add a splash of water to your cup of tempura flour and stir. Keep adding small amounts of water until the texture is just right – you don’t want it too thick or too watery.

Step 3: Next gently pat together the meat into meatballs roughly the size of a golf ball. You should aim for about 8 meatballs from 250g of minced pork. You don’t want them too large or they will be difficult to cook properly.

Step 4: If you have a deep fryer, use that, otherwise heat up a saucepan of cooking oil ready to fry the meatballs. You should have enough oil in the pan so that the meatballs are completely submerged. While the oil is heating, coat the meatballs in the batter. You don’t want too much batter on the meatballs, so before adding them to the fryer, drain off some of the excess batter.

Step 5: Fry the meatballs for roughly 5 minutes or until cooked. The exact length of time will depend on how large your meatballs are. They should be crispy and golden brown on the outside, but not over cooked. We used some skewers to pierce the meatballs to ensure they were cooked right the way through. If lots of liquid seeps out when you make a piercing, then they need to cook a little longer.

Step 6: Once all of your meatballs are cooked, place them into a bowl with some paper towel to absorb excess oil. Let the meatballs cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before preparing the salad. Then use a wooden spoon to break up the meatballs, but avoid mashing them too finely.

Step 7: Once the meatballs are broken up, add the salt, sugar, ginger, shallots, peanuts, dried chilli, spring onions, lime juice, fish sauce, and coriander, and mix everything together.

Step 8: Add the mint leaves and mix in.

Step 9: Add as many chillies as you can handle, mix in and serve with steamed jasmine rice.