Excited That the Sauce Is Actually Promising for Wings!
After making meatballs a couple of times with a honey soy sauce dipping sauce, I will not only make savory meatballs in the future instead of sweet ones, but also add a new twist to an old recipe for chicken wings.
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
I bought a tray of ground pork to make fried rice. However, since it would’ve been too much to include in that dish, I had to find another recipe to finish up the remainder of the meat.
Inspiring Recipe
What I found was a recipe, Chinese BBQ Pork Meatballs, from Wok & Skillet, a website created by a Malaysian who spent most of her adult life in the United States before moving back to Malaysia.
First Try
I’ve never made meatballs from scratch, so I was looking forward to trying out the recipe.
Ingredients to Use
Since I started with one pound of ground pork as noted in the default recipe, I didn’t have to spend time on conversions. Also, I had the remaining ingredients at home!
Steps to Prepare
Of the 10 steps in the instructions, I only made a minor adjustment by using a glass instead of a bowl for the corn starch mixture.
In addition, since I ended up with 21 meatballs, I cooked them in three batches.
Time to Eat
Before serving the bowl of meatballs, I started to drizzle the sauce on them. However, since the honey soy sauce was too thick, I left it as a dipping sauce.
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣1️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
I enjoyed the seasoned meatballs, but the sauce was too salty. The soy sauce just overpowered the honey.
Second Try
The only thing on my mind for the second batch of meatballs was to make the sauce less salty and sticky.
Ingredients to Use
Since I used one pound of ground pork for the meatballs again, I kept the amount for the remaining ingredients the same, except for the dipping sauce. For the condiment, I decreased the ratio of the honey and soy sauce from 1:1 to 2:1, respectively this time, using 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
Steps to Prepare
For the second attempt, I ended up making the meatballs a little larger, so they were cooked in two batches. In regards to boiling the sauce, I didn’t do it that long, as I was hoping for it to be less springy as compared to the first version.
Time to Eat
I was a bit unsure of the modified rendition of the dipping sauce because it was watery.
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣1️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
The meatballs and sauce tasted good. However, since the honey and soy sauce mixture did not thicken much after it cooled down, I didn’t like the texture. Luckily, my husband liked it and even requested it to be added to the baked chicken wings that I often make.
Though I won’t be making this recipe again, I will be taking what I learned here to do the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Improve a recipe for baked chicken wings.
After my experience with making meatballs, I realized the following that I’d like to share with my younger self:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Some techniques are very similar and are transferable. (As a result, I will try making a naked wonton soup.)
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the recipe, Chinese BBQ Pork Meatballs, from the website, Wok & Skillet?
- Share a way that you’ve applied one recipe to another?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)