Vietnamese Turkey Meatballs

 

Ground turkey is something I almost always keep in my freezer as a quick solution to weekday meals.  It's relatively healthy and a nice change from endless chicken breasts, and the range of dishes you can morph it into is expansive: you can stuff vegetables with it, turn it into a sauce, or just stir fry it the way you would with chopped meat.

My favorite template, though, is the noble meatball.  While the classic Italian version remains hard to beat, it's remarkably easy to integrate a variety of cultures' flavor profiles into this base.  Many countries already have their version of the meatball that are ripe for transformation into a "light" turkey version - Spanish albóndigas and Swedish meatballs are among the variations that I've tried so far - but it also works equally well to invent your own.  

Meatballs do exist in Vietnamese cuisine and can often be ordered with pho, but this dish is more of an attempt to port over some classic Vietnamese flavors into an otherwise straightforward Italian meatball recipe.  Lemongrass, chili, garlic, and palm sugar give them an herbacious, sweet, and spicy balance, while lime and mint provide the freshness that makes Vietnamese cuisine so appealing.  If you've never worked with palm sugar before, be prepared to struggle a bit with it - it's oven sold in hard, rock-like discs that are difficult to break up, so I recommend placing some in water and heating until dissolved - you can store the "palm syrup" in the fridge for future recipes and won't drive yourself crazy trying to chisel off the right amount.

Vietnamese Turkey Meatballs
2 lbs ground turkey (85% or 93% lean)
3 birds eye chilis, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp lemongrass, finely minced
1 tbsp fish sauce
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp palm sugar (can substitute white or brown sugar if necessary)
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl and stir thoroughly.  When ingredients are completely combined, grab about 2 tbsp of the picture and form into a ball using the palm of your hand.  Lay onto baking sheet lined with foil, and repeat with remaining mixture.

Add to oven and bake for 15-20 min, or until meatballs are brown on the outside and fat has rendered out.  Remove meatballs from tray, brushing any residue off, and serve immediately.