Waikiki Meatballs
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2⁄3 cup cracker crumbs
1⁄3 cup onion, minced
1 egg
1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt (If your crackers are very salty, you might want to omit this.)
1⁄4 teaspoon dried ginger
1⁄4 cup milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed
1⁄3 cup rice or white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup beef broth
1 pineapple, rind removed and fruit cut into small pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. Combine beef, crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger and milk in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. (I prefer my hands for mixing meatballs.) Shape meat mixture into small balls. Place meatballs on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until cooked through.
3. Mix cornstarch and sugar in a medium saucepan. Add vinegar, soy sauce and beef broth. Stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for one minute. Add pineapple and bell pepper; heat through.
4. Serve meatballs and sauce over rice.
Comments
This is a recipe that came to me from Art’s parents. We’ve tweaked it slightly because we prefer fresh pineapple to canned and to bake the meatballs instead of frying them as in the original recipe. The sauce is a nice sweet and sour sauce, the fresh pineapple adds amazing flavor.
You can combine the meatballs with the sauce before serving, but I’ve found that the meatballs break down in an unappetizing way when saved with the sauce. Instead, I keep the meatballs and sauce separate and just combine everything when it’s ready to be eaten.
Sadly I forgot to buy a red bell pepper, which is why you don’t see any red bell pepper pieces in this photograph.
Person - Art’s Mom