Happy New Year (2021) to you all.

Best way to start the year, is with loved ones, spending quality time within great comforts of your home and always indulging in amazing home cooked meals. One of the easiest recipes to re-create using minced beef, other than making plain minced meat stew which was out of the question at that time, is baked meatballs. My favorite person and I needed some interesting and exciting ways to re-purpose minced beef.

I’ll take you through a full proof recipe, my all time simple and favorite, step by step tutorial of the best and moist baked meatballs you’ll ever come across. Also, trust in the preparation process – no short cuts.

Here’s what you’ll need to prepare – Overnight baked honey garlic ginger meatballs.

Prep time: 10 mins  Fry the onions: 15 mins  Prep the bread mix: 5 mins

Prep the meat mix: 10 mins   Overnight chill for the meat mix.

Raw meatballs prep:  15 mins   Prep the sauce: 10 mins

Bake time: 30 mins   Cook the sauce: 15 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Main Ingredients:

*Onions prep*

• 3 large red onions
• 1 cup of Elianto veggie cooking oil
• salt to taste

Important tools used here:

• Small Sharp knife 
• Chopping board
• A small pink bowl
• A heat proof wooden spoon
• A wok
• heat over the stove

*Bread mix*

• 3 to 4 slices of buttertoast white bread
• 1/4 cup of Daima wholemilk
• 1 egg – at room temp

Important tools used here:

• Measuring cup
• A small mixing bowl
• A spoon

*Minced Meat prep*

• 500 g of minced beef – from carrefour Junction mall
• 2 teaspoons – mixed spices
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Important tools used here:

• A deep medium sized bowl 
• a measuring spoon – teaspoon size
• Serving spoon
• An oven
• A shallow baking tray
• aluminum foil

*Honey garlic ginger sauce*

• 1/2 cup of Elianto veggie cooking oil
• 3 bottle caps of Zesta white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of Zesta dark soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of Peptang hot and sweet garlic flavored sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup of Kitui family honey
• 1/4 cup of Heinz mustard
• 1 teaspoon of Bel’s organic garlic and ginger paste

Important tools used here:

• A small shallow bowl with polka dots
• A small whisk
• a measuring cup
• A sauce pan
• Heat over a stove
• heat proof tongs
• plastic bowl

*Garnish*

• Un-toasted sesame seeds

Instructions:

Step 1: Prep the onions – Chop the red onions into halves, and slice them then set them aside. Over a large wok, heated over medium heat, add Elianto veggie cooking oil to the hot wok, then add in the sliced red onions. Make sure the onions are submerged into the oil and separated into single layers. Keep tossing an turning them using a heat proof wooden spoon until they are golden brown. Turn off the heat, and scoop out the cooked onions onto a bowl to let them stop cooking and to cool off. Season with salt and set it aside.

Step 2: Prep the bread mixture – In a small bowl, cut out by hand the super loaf butter toast slices of bread. Add daima whole milk to the bowl bit by bit. The milk will be absorbed by the bread and this will create enough moisture to the meatballs as they bake – which will happen later on. Once you get the perfect consistency for the bread – milk mixture – in this case, the mixture shouldn’t be too wet. If you feel its’ too wet, add another slice of bread and mix until everything is soft. Add an egg and mix it well into the mixture. Set that aside.

Step 3: Mince beef prep – In a medium sized bowl, add the minced beef to it. The meat shouldn’t be entirely lean, but it should have some of its fat mixed in. This will add more flavor to the end product. Season the meat with different types of spices you like, and don’t forget the salt. First mix that in, and then add in the bread mixture for added moisture, then last but not least, with clean hands, massage the crunchy cooked onions into the meat mixture.

Step 4: Chill the meat mixture – either for 2 hours, but I love to chill it over-night. This is a very important step. All the flavors will be well infused before heat is implemented.

Step 5: Pre-heat the oven – 375 Degrees Celsius for at least 15 mins

Step 6: Prep your baking tray – Using aluminum foil, spread just one layer of the foil to the pan and ruffle it by the edges. Set that aside.

Step 7: Shape the meat balls – To your palms, add a small amount of Elianto’s veggie cooking oil and rub that against your palms. The oil is to avoid any stickiness of the meat to your palms, plus it makes work easier. Pinch the meat mixture and start shaping them into balls while placing them onto the aligned baking tray. 20 pieces of meatballs was created.

Step 8: Bake them in a preheat oven – for exactly 30 mins at 375 degrees Celsius. Once baked, place them on the countertop to cool.

Step 9: Prep the Honey glazed sauce – Mix every single ingredient as mentioned above in a bowl first and whisk to combine. Over medium heat, place a sauce pan and add in the sauce mixture and cook it for at least 15 mins while stirring continuously until it thickens. Add in the baked meat balls to the sauce with the help of a heat proof spatula. Toss and turn them as they are infused with the flavors from the sauce.

Step 10: Garnish – with some un-toasted sesame seeds. Toss them around. Turn off the heat and serve with different accompaniments.

I love any type of meat cooked, to be well done. I never like to see any part of it once cut into – red in color.

TIPS:

They are best served while they are hot inside and can be accompanied by almost any other meal – ie:  pasta, rice, quinoa, salad and even – Ugali.

You are allowed to mix different types of meat – ie:  uncooked sausages, minced chicken/turkey/pork but don’t forget to get meat with a little more fat in it. Not too much, but not super lean either.

Always remember, once you add too much salt to food, you cannot take it. If you can note this part down, it will save you discouragement. 1 pound = equivalent to 453 grams is equal to 1 teaspoon of salt. In this recipe – I only used 500 g of minced beef but once you start adding more bulk ingredients to the mixture, you can adjust more salt, but try not to over do it, if you incorporate other spices.

Don’t over crowd them on your baking tray. Leave room for expansion when heat is implemented during baking.

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If you’d love to see more of such recipes, leave a comment below also mentioning what other recipes you’d like me to tackle.

Until the next episode, Bon Appetite!!