Cooking 101: Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Since I'm a wife now, I take care of what my husband and I eat everyday. As I have mentioned in my previous blog entry, I have a routine during the weekdays. Let me just reiterate the schedule: wake up at 4AM, prepare breakfast, shower, wake up my husband, dress up, eat breakfast, go to work, get home by 4PM, prepare dinner by 5-6PM, watch news, shower, wait for my husband to arrive, eat dinner, chat a little, go to bed by 9PM.

It sounds boring but trust me, if you're adventurous in the kitchen, everyday is a challenge. I learned how to cook when I was in high school and a licensed nutritionist-dietitian so I'm pretty much accustomed to cooking. The only trouble I encounter is how to feed a picky eater.

You see, my husband's taste buds are a bit tricky to please. He usually consumes "safe" foods, which means no experimenting, no exotic, no too complicated, and yes, the list goes on. He wants me to stick to usual Pinoy viands.

Well, I'm his opposite. I love to experiment in the kitchen and I love to try foods that I haven't tried yet. So, the solution that I have come up with is to incorporate certain flavors to your usual Pinoy eats.

Recipe #1: Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs:

• 1/2 kilo pork giniling
• 1 medium-sized carrot, minced
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 medium-sized onion, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• kinchay, minced (optional)

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 3 cloves garlice, crushed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips (julienne)
• 6 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp vinegar
• 3 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 small can of pineapple chunks, drained (reserve syrup)
• a dash of salt

Procedure:

1. Meatballs: Mix all ingredients together. Form into small balls then deep fry until golden brown. Make sure to drain excess oil afterwards.

1.  Sweet and Sour Sauce: Saute garlic and onion. Add carrots and stir fry for two minutes.
2. Add bell pepper then stir fry for two minutes as well.
3. Pour tomato sauce, vinegar, water and pineapple syrup. Mix well, Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add pineapple chunks and salt to taste.

•  To finish the recipe, add fried meatballs to the sauce and allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve with steamed rice and a glass of ice cold water.

The idea of not putting too much "sangkap" to the recipe makes it simply delicious. Try it on your picky eaters and I'd bet, they'd eat more than second helpings of rice. My husband did!