Hi, I’m Francis, the host of this show "Cooking with Dog."
Today, we're making Meatballs.
You should keep them on standby since they make the perfect bento ingredient.
First, let's prepare the lotus root.
Thoroughly rinse the lotus root and grate it along with the skin.
The grated root should make approximately 50g (1.8 oz).
Next, slice about 100g (3.5 oz) of the lotus root.
Then, coarsely chop the slices into small pieces.
Let's make the sauce.
Combine the vinegar, sake,
sugar
and soy sauce.
Stir to dissolve.
Now, let's combine the meatball ingredients.
In a large bowl, season the ground pork with the salt and pepper.
Add the soy sauce
and sake.
With your hand, squish the mixture to combine the ingredients.
Then, loosely spread your fingers forming a rake shape
to thoroughly mix the meat until the mixture becomes sticky.
This will make it easier to combine other ingredients later.
Then, add the chopped ginger root,
coarsely chopped long green onion,
grated lotus root,
and coarsely chopped lotus root.
Add in the potato starch
and sesame oil.
Squeeze the mixture so all ingredients are well incorporated.
Even if you use lean meat,
adding the grated lotus root will give it a tender texture.
The crispy chopped lotus root also adds a pleasant texture to the dish.
When the meat mixture is thoroughly combined,
shape them into balls about the size of ping pong balls
and place them onto a plate.
You'll have about 12 meatballs in total.
Now, remove your kitchen glove.
Wet your hands with vegetable oil
and roll each meatball between your palms
to make a smooth surface.
And now, let's cook the meatballs.
Heat the oil in a pot to 170 °C (340 °F) and reduce the heat to low.
Gently place the meatballs into the pot.
Then, bring to medium heat.
Don’t touch the meatballs until the surface firms up.
Occasionally shake the pot
to keep the bottom of the meatballs from burning.
When the surface firms up, turn the meatballs over.
Keep turning them to brown evenly for 5 to 6 minutes.
They will turn to a delicious golden brown color.
Remove the meatballs and place them onto a cooling rack.
Now, let's coat the meatballs with the sauce.
Heat another pot on medium heat.
Stir the sauce and pour it into the pot.
Bring it to a boil and reduce the sauce.
When the sauce begins to thicken, add the meatballs.
Coat the meatballs with the sauce.
Now, they are ready.
Place the meatballs onto a plate
along with the sweet and sour sauce.
Mmmm.
Looks so delicious, doesn't it?
You can also top with shichimi chili pepper, sansho pepper
or a generous amount of chopped seasonal kinome leaves to taste.
These meatballs are tender even when cold and the lotus root really adds a fun and beautiful texture.
The meatballs are great for adding to bentos
but be sure to cool them before packing.
As for the cute Francis bento lunch box,
this is a collaboration with Bento&co,
an online store specializing in bento boxes based in Kyoto.
We worked very hard to create the product
along with the chopsticks and lunch box bag.
The information can be found in the description below
so please check it out.
Finally, the meatballs can be refrigerated or frozen
so you can always keep them on standby.
Good luck in the kitchen!