Name: Joyce's Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs in Lettuce Wraps
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of visible fat and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce; 3 small shallots, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass, tender white inner bulb only, minced; 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, plus 1/3 cup leaves for serving; 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint, plus 1/3 cup leaves for serving; 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 head Boston or red leaf lettuce, leaves separated; 1 small seedless cucumber—peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise; 1 small red onion, halved and sliced; Asian chili sauce, for serving

Small Bites by Jennifer Joyce takes the popular restaurant trend of small plates and turns it into a fresh style of entertaining. Joyce's party recipes are clever but extremely doable: She gives chicken meatballs a heavenly sticky glaze, for instance, by rolling them in sugar before baking. Slideshow:  Cocktail Party Recipes 

Joyce's Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs in Lettuce Wraps

chicken

Asian fish sauce

shallots,

garlic cloves,

cilantro,

mint,

cornstarch

salt

pepper

sugar

Boston

cucumber—peeled,

red onion,

Asian chili sauce,

Preheat the oven to 400&deg;. Position a rack in the top third of the oven. In a food processor, pulse the chicken until coarsely ground; transfer to a bowl. Add the fish sauce, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, chopped cilantro and mint, cornstarch, salt and pepper and mix with your hands.


Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the sugar on a plate. Using slightly moistened hands, roll the chicken mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the meatballs in the sugar until they are evenly coated. Transfer the meatballs to the prepared baking sheet and bake them for 15 minutes, until they are lightly browned and cooked through.


Meanwhile, arrange the lettuce, cilantro and mint leaves, cucumber and onion on a platter. Transfer the meatballs to the platter and serve with chili sauce.


I don't know how this recipe has only garnered a 4-star average.  It's easy, delicious and works as written.   A couple of comments:1.  Cooking time of 15 min. at 400 deg. wasn't long enough - We ended up cooking for 10 more minutes after raising the heat to 425.   All ovens are different but next time we're going 425 for 20 minutes to see how that goes.2.  I added 1 tbsp. of hoisin sauce and left out the salt - seasoning was perfect and umami flavor lingered on the palate.3.  We added green onions instead of red to the condiments because that's how we roll.This is a fantastic and easy dish and also lends itself well to a simple saute of the minced meat if you like your lettuce cups that way instead of the meatballs.   But you could easily serve these with toothpicks and chile sauce as a hot appetizer.

joyce's vietnamese chicken meatballs in lettuce wraps

Total: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Cost: $11.71 /serving

Author : Jennifer Joyce

Ingredients

Instructions

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