Asian Meatballs

Asian Meatballs with Rice,Vegetables and Sweet N Sour Sauce. 

As I have mentioned before, I love Asian food. And with this recipe I wanted to test the Asian Meatball recipe out with my Tupperware SmartSteamer. Recipe calls for ground pork, but I wanted to try Turkey. I know many have said that turkey has a strange flavor when cooking, but the trick to using ground turkey is to season it with what you're going to cook it in and let it marinate for a few hours. Then the meat takes on the flavor of the seasonings. So with this recipe I did just that.


In my directions you'll see the first pic with Asian Noodles, but everyone decided they wanted rice so I switched over to Minute Rice to save time. And with my recipe I always make my own Sweet-N-Sour sauce. And no, it doesn't turn out pink like in the jar or restaurant. It's a brown color due to the Soy Sauce. But it is very good!

So let's get started with the recipe!

Gather Supplies

For the first part of the recipe you'll need
1 lb. pkg of ground turkey
Five Spice Seasonings
Soy Sauce
1 clove garlic - crushed
1/2 inch or so of fresh ginger - grated.
Dash of Salt
Tupperware Products Used: SmartSteamer and Vent N' Serve.

Step 1- First I mixed 1-1/2 tsp. of Five Spice Seasonings, 1 clove crushed garlic and some fresh grated Ginger, few dashes of Soy Sauce and a dash of salt to the turkey meat. (Go easy on the salt because of the soy sauce) Then I let it set covered in the fridge about 2 hours. That's to let the meat take on the flavors of the seasonings

Step 2- Once it marinated for 2 hours, I took and rolled it into small meatball shapes. This is what the 1 lb. package made

Step 3- Here you can see I placed the meatballs in the bottom and the colander section of the Tupperware SmartSteamer. I then filled the tray with water and put the lid on and cooked for about 8 min. This will vary on amount of meatballs and wattage of your microwave.

Step 4- While the meatballs were steaming, I washed out my Vent N' Serve and I put in my bag of Vegetables. I used a touch of water to help them steam. When the meatballs were done, I place them in the microwave for about 8 min to steam them. I wanted them still with some crunch. To my veggies, I did add some fresh bell pepper that I sliced.

These are the meatballs once they finished cooking. I just sat them to the side with the lid on until I was ready for them.

Now it's time to make the Sweet N' Sour sauce from scratch. In the pic you see a Lime, but I ended up not using that. Instead I used bottled Lemon juice.

Supplies needed for Sweet N' Sour Sauce

1-1/2 cups Water

1/4 cup Lemon Juice
2 Tbl. Orange Juice - I use fresh orange, so I squeeze half the orange in the recipe.
1/3 cup. Rice Vinegar
2-1/2 Tbl. Soy Sauce
1 Tbl. fresh Orange Zest.
1 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Ginger Root - minced
1 clove Garlic - minced
2 Tbl. Green Onion - chopped
3 Tbl. Corn Starch
2 Tbl. Water

Step 5- Mix water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, orange zest, brown sugar and ginger root and garlic to a pot or pan. Heat on med-high and combine until sugar is dissolved and starting to bubble.
Mix 3 Tbl. of corn starch and water together to make a slurry and add to mixture. Stir until think and bubbly. Add in chopped green onions.

While this was cooking, I put on 2 cups of water to boil and when it came to a boil, I added 2 cups of minute rice, covered and turned off the heat.

 Step 6 - Everything is done and ready to combine. I added my vegetables and the meatballs to the Sweet N' Sour sauce. I let this simmer for about 5 min to combine flavors. By this time the rice has finished. Just place a helping of rice on a plate or bowl and top with your meatballs mixture.

And here you have it!

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

 

Asian Steamed Chicken

Asian Steamed Chicken with Green Beans and Potatoes

Here at my home we love Asian food. And when I have the chance, I love to cook Asian recipes.
I was looking through the freezer the other day and I had 3 chicken breasts left, some fresh green beans and some potatoes. I was in the mood for something Asian and I thought.. hmm.. just marinate the chicken and add the green beans and some potato chunks. That should be good...So, today, that's just what I did. I just wanted it simple and easy so I used my Tupperware Steamer to cook it all at one time!

 Here's what you need to gather:

3 - boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I had 3 on hand)
fresh green beans
a couple of potatoes
Spices of your choice to marinate the chicken. ( I used soy sauce, sweet-n-sour sauce, five spice seasonings and a few dashes of sesame oil)
Tupperware Steamer.

Step 1: The day before, I took my chicken out and I just marinated it with just a few dashes of Soy Sauce, a little Sweet-N-Sour Sauce and some 5 Spice Seasonings and a few dashes of sesame oil. I covered it and put in the fridge overnight. 

 The next day I gathered everything together and in about 5 min. I had it ready to cook.

Step 2: I placed the chicken breasts in the bottom section of the Tupperware Steamer, then I placed the colander part on top, and added my green beans and potato chunks. I just sprinkled a little spice on them and a few dashes of sesame oil. I then placed the lid on and filled the water tray to the full line.

I placed the steamer in the microwave and set the timer for 19 min. Allow 6 min. per lb of meat.

Step 3: When the timer went off at 19 min. I let the steamer set for another 5 min. then took the lid off and as you see, it's all done!

And my finished plate of Asian chicken with green beans and potatoes. The chicken is super moist, the potatoes are perfect and the green beans still have that bit of crunch when you bite into them. I salted the food after cooking because of the Soy Sauce. And it didn't need much salt at all!

Enjoy!