I’ve always loved mini-meatballs. Beef, turkey, or Swedish, I could eat them as a meal or snack any day of the week. I fell hard for Asian chicken meatballs as part of the dim sum menu in a restaurant, so I had to figure out how to make those too. Soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil are staples in my pantry so I only had to shop for the ground chicken and a few more ingredients. The first time I made them, I dunked them in a dipping sauce I found in the supermarket and gobbled them down while binge-watching Game of Thrones. After that, I wanted to try making my own sauce so I gathered all the Asian seasonings I had on hand, mixed together a little of this and a lot of that and came up with the sauce recipe below.

INGREDIENTS
Meatballs
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon minced scallion
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic (about 2 medium cloves)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Asian Chili Dipping Sauce
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Asian chili sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds [Optional, for garnish]
Tip:  If you can find mirin, a sweet Asian rice wine, use that instead of the honey and the rice vinegar.

TOOLS
sheet pan, lined with foil
cooking spray
large (5-quart) mixing bowl
measuring cups and spoons
small (1 1/2 quart) mixing bowl
instant-read thermometer

METHOD
1. Set oven to 450 degrees. Spritz foil-lined pan with a generous amount of cooking spray and set aside.
2. Place MEATBALL ingredients in bowl, then mix by hand until just combined.
3. Divide mixture in half, then each half into thirds. Split each third in half and roll into 2 balls–for a total of 12 meatballs. Arrange meatballs evenly on pan.
4. Bake until lightly browned and internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees–about 14 minutes. Meanwhile, combine all ASIAN CHILI DIPPING SAUCE ingredients in small bowl. Mix well.

NOTES & TIPS
• The ground chicken mixture will be sticky. Wetting your hands with water occasionally will make the rolling the meatballs easier.

READY IN
30 minutes

YIELD
12 meatballs