Gretchen’s table: Meatballs with nuoc cham, cucumber and mint offer Vietnamese take on classic dish

Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Meatballs are made in countries across the globe and are widely loved.

They’re often bite-sized — though they also can be rather large, most notably those Chinese “lion’s head” meatballs — and popular with kids, who love food that can be popped into their mouths.

Some say they were first made in Persia (where they are called kofta) and then spread to other regions. Wherever it started, the tradition of mixing small amounts of minced meat with breadcrumbs, rice, potatoes, cheese or eggs has been a hit with home cooks for generations.

Whether you fry or bake meatballs depends on where you live, as well as what herbs and spices are used to make them.

These Southeast Asian-style pork meatballs from Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook “Ottolenghi Comfort” (Ten Speed Press, $38) get much of their flavor from umami-rich fish sauce, a condiment widely used in Vietnamese cooking.

Beefed up with leftover cooked rice, the mix also gets an aromatic boost from fresh mint and finely chopped cilantro stems along with garlic and minced shallot. But what really sets them apart is the bright-red, totally addictive homemade nuoc cham dipping sauce that gets poured on top.

Also used to dress fresh salads, spring rolls and noodle bowls throughout Asia, the pungent condiment is made by crushing two types of red chile with a pestle in a mortar along with sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. It’s a one-two punch for home cooks: In addition to being colorful, the sauce offers a perfect balance of sour, sweet, spicy, savory and salty flavors.

While this type of meatball is often skewered and grilled over an open flame in Thailand and Vietnam, Ottolenghi chooses to pan-fry them so there’s no need for skewers.

“It also allows us to eat them with our hands in lettuce cups, which we love,” he writes in the cookbook.

Lovely as a family snack, these meatballs also can be served over rice noodles in a bowl, or tossed along with herbs and more of the dipping sauce as a salad.

To use whole iceberg lettuce leaves as wrappers, whack a head of lettuce core-side down on the counter to detach the core, pull it out and place the head upside down under a cold running tap, allowing the water to run through. The water will get between the layers and help separate them without tearing.

Meatballs with Nuoc Cham, Cucumber and Mint

PG tested

For meatballs

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro stems, save leaves for garnish

1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup leftover cooked rice

1 pound 2 ounces ground pork

5 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

Salt and white pepper

For nuoc cham

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 small red bird’s-eye chile, roughly chopped

1 large mild red chiie, roughly sliced

1/4 teaspoon flaked salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

To serve

1 small head iceberg lettuce, separated into leaves

1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced

Make meatballs: Place garlic, shallot, cilantro, mint, fish sauce and sugar in a medium bowl with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon white pepper. Stir well to combine, until sugar dissolves, then add rice and meat.

Mix well, then form into roughly 1-ounce balls — you should get around 24. Flatten them slightly and place on a baking sheet. Keep in fridge until ready to cook

Make nuoc cham. Put garlic, chiles and flaked salt into a mortar and pestle and pound to form a wet paste.

Add remaining ingredients, then transfer to a screw top jar. Shake vigorously and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, place ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the chiles and garlic are broken up.