Korean Inspired Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork - either already ground or cubed pork shoulder or butt trimmed to remove most the fat

• 3 green onions + more for garnish

• 1/4 cup cilantro (this will be finely chopped so stems are fine)

• 1 black garlic clove

• 6 baby carrots

• 1 white onion

• 1 1 Tbsp ginger paste

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1 tsp shiitake powder

• 2-3 Tbsp gochujang

• 1/4 cup almond flour

• 3-4 Tbsp stock, water, or milk *this gets mixed with the almond flour to make a panade*

• 1/2 tsp cornstarch

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1/2 tsp S&B mustard powder

• 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tsp fish sauce

• 1 egg

• Cooking oil

• sesame seeds for garnish

  Korean BBQ sauce:

• 1/4 cup gochujang

• 3 Tbsp brown sugar

• 1 minced garlic clove

• 1 tsp shiitake mushroom powder

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tsp fish sauce

• 1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1/4 tsp ginger paste

Directions

1. If grinding your own meat: Lay out the cubed pork on a pan or in a bag and freeze between 30 minutes to an hour before grinding. It shouldn't be frozen, but everything needs to be cold. The equipment that touches the meat should also be in the freezer prior to grinding. Use the grinder per the instructions, but be sure to grind the meat into a bowl that is inside another bowl thay has ice to keep everything COLD. Just grind the meat once.

2. Combine the almond flour and stock/liquid of choice until it's a paste. Set aside. *This is the panade*

3. Whisk the egg with a pinch of salt in a small bowl and set aside.

4. In a small pan, saute a clove of minced garlic in sesame oil for a minute on medium heat. Stir in the other BBQ sauce ingredients and lower the heat to keep warm.

5. Finely dice the onion, carrot, regular garlic, cilantro, and green onion. You can add the dice to the cold meat bowl as you go, but don't mix everything yet. Only mix once at the end to prevent overmixing.

6. Add the corn starch, baking soda, gochujang, black garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, mushroom powder, mustard, salt and pepper to the meat mixture with the vegetables if not added yet. Add the panade and the egg.

7. Use a gloved to mix just until combined, careful not to overmix. If the mixture begins to warm up as you mix, let it chill in the refrigerator a few minutes.

8. Roll into meatballs, about an inch in diameter. Heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of cooking oil on medium high heat. Working in batches, sear the meatballs on each side until there is a crust and the internal temperature is 160°F.

9. As you remove the balls, put them in a bowl with some of the sauce, toss, then plate the meatballs and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.