Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Just like how special bulalo is to me because it brings many memories of my father, this dish is also close to my heart. You see, my mama had a canteen near a college school in Quezon City when I was around Sophia's age. During those times, I learned about a lot of different dishes that we don't usually eat at home. And one of them is Sweet and Sour Meatballs! Yes, would you believe that she didn't serve it to us then that I needed to hang out in her canteen to know what it is? Haha, I'm sure she'd roll her eyes dramatically and might say I just can't remember it. Well, please remind me to ask my older sisters to clarify.

Anyway, so in the canteen, she served this dish with big, juicy meatballs and with thick red sauce unlike most cheap eateries where sauce was too orange and balls were small and full of flour. Too sad that she had to close the canteen. I saw how successful it was! I loved hanging out there and helping her with whatever. Many students liked it there, too because of the delicious and generous serving of food (and also, maybe because my eldest sister was an attractive teenager, lol).

Now that you know the background of this delish dish, I would love to share my easy recipe with all of you! But first, some important notes to consider before cooking this:

• Just like what I said in my Almondigas recipe, 500 grams of ground meat can make 24 medium-sized meatballs. I used the 1/8 measuring cup. For this recipe, I only used 12 meatballs and used the other 12 for Almondigas.

• You may use your choice of tomato sauce but please note that the dish depends mostly on it so pick the one that's easy to alter.

• If your kids aren't that keen on eating pineapples in viands, you may use the crushed variant. It's a special ingredient that makes the sauce sweet and fruity so there's no best excuse to ditch it.

• I put some spring onions purely for plating purposes but it sure did flavor it more but if you're not into food aesthetics, that's fine. It'll still be yum.

• But if you like colorful food, you may use green and yellow bell peppers instead of red.

I'm ready if you're ready. Game?

Ingredients:

for the meatballs

- 500 gms ground beef or pork

- 1 large egg

- 1 carrot, grated

- 1 clove garlic, grated

- few stalks of green onion, chopped

- salt and pepper

- oil for frying

for the sauce

- cooking oil

- 1 medium white onion, sliced

- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped and minced

- 1 can of pineapple chunks

- 1 pouch tomato sauce

- 1 to 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

- 1 medium carrots, sliced like flower or julienned

- 1 red bell pepper, squares

- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey

- 1/4 cup chicken stock or water and chicken broth cube

- spring onions

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients of the meatballs well with your hands. Using your bare hands, instead of a ladle, makes it easier for the ingredients to form into a perfect mixture.

2. Scoop the meat mixture using a 1/8 measuring cup for uniformed sizing then shape it into balls.

3. Fry the meatballs until its outward appearance is golden brown. You don't need to fully fry it as it will be cooked well with the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

4. In the same pan, remove almost all the oil used for frying, reserving a tablespoon or two for sautéing. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent.

5. Add carrots, pineapple juice from the pineapple chunks and sugar. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Add the meatballs, pour tomato sauce and water. Season with salt and pepper. Mix, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

7. Add pineapple chunks and bell pepper. Mix lightly. Transfer to plate and sprinkle spring onions on top. Enjoy! 

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