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[[ Pork · Meat · Dinner · Dumplings ]]

Asian Pork Meatballs with Mash & Saucy Greens

Pork meatballs made from dumpling filling sit on creamy mash with garlicky greens and a ginger-soy pan sauce. The flavours are savoury and a little punchy, with chilli oil adding gentle heat. A good weeknight meal when you have leftover filling to use up.

Time: 40 min
Effort: Low-medium
Steps: 8

4 of the steps have a timer you can start with one tap.

Pencil drawing of Asian Pork Meatballs with Mash & Saucy Greens

Ingredients

2 to feed

200 g leftover pork dumpling filling
10 g neutral oil
500 g Agria or low-GI waxy potatoes
30 g salted butter
60 ml whole milk or cream
1 pinch flaky sea salt
1 pinch white pepper
2 cloves garlic
8 g fresh ginger
200 ml chicken stock
20 ml soy sauce
15 ml rice vinegar
10 ml sesame oil
5 g sugar
4 g cornflour
200 g broccolini, bok choy, or gai lan
10 g neutral oil (greens)
1 to finish chilli oil

How it goes

PrepRoll the meatballs · Prep everything else
CookBoil the potatoes · Fry the meatballs · Build the pan sauce
FinishMash the potatoes · Sauté the greens
PlatePlate and serve

Method

Roll the meatballs
With slightly wet hands, roll the ~200 g filling into 10–12 balls (3–4 cm). Set on a plate and leave at room temperature for 10 minutes — cold-from-the-fridge balls brown unevenly and cook the inside slowly.
Prep everything else
Peel and cut 500g potatoes into even ~4 cm chunks; put in a saucepan of cold, well-salted water. Grate 1 clove garlic and 5g ginger; whisk in a jug with 200ml stock, 20ml soy sauce, 15ml rice vinegar and 5g sugar. Julienne the remaining 3g ginger and slice 1 clove garlic for the greens. Trim greens and halve thick stalks. Mix the cornflour slurry (4g cornflour + 15ml cold water) in a small cup.
Boil the potatoes
Bring to a boil, then simmer until a knife slides through with no resistance, 15–18 minutes. Drain and return to the hot pot; steam-dry over the residual burner heat for 2 min, shaking once. Dry potatoes = fluffy mash.
Fry the meatballs
Heat 10g oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high until shimmering. Add meatballs with space between them and leave them undisturbed for 2–3 min to form a crust before turning. Roll to brown all over, 7–8 min total, until deep golden and ≥71 °C internal. Rest on a plate, tented loosely.
Build the pan sauce
Reduce heat to medium. Pour the jug mixture into the same unwashed pan, scraping up the browned bits. Simmer 3–4 min to reduce by about a third. Stir the slurry and add half of it, simmering 30 sec until glossy and just coating a spoon — add the rest only if you want it thicker. Off the heat, stir in 10ml sesame oil and taste: a splash more vinegar for lift, soy for depth. Return the meatballs and roll to coat. Keep on the lowest heat.
Mash the potatoes
Warm the 60ml milk (30 sec, or in a small pot). While the pot is still warm, mash the potatoes — a ricer or masher, never a food processor. Beat in 30g butter first until melted and glossy, then the warm milk in stages. Season assertively with flaky salt and white pepper. Beat just until smooth; stop before it turns gluey.
Sauté the greens
Heat 10g oil in a second pan over high until nearly smoking. Add the sliced garlic and julienned ginger, toss 15 sec until fragrant, then add 200g greens with a small splash of water. Toss 2–3 min until bright green and crisp-tender. Finish with a splash of soy off the heat so they stay glossy, not steamed grey.
Plate and serve
Spoon a generous swoosh of mash into each warm bowl and make a well with the back of the spoon. Nestle 5–6 meatballs in, spoon the glossy sauce over so it pools into the mash, and tumble the greens alongside. Finish each bowl with a few drops of chilli oil and a scatter of the julienned ginger. Serve immediately.