Ginger Chicken Meatball Sandwich
Juicy meatballs with loaded with ginger and tossed in a sweet caramel glaze are the star of this incredible Ginger Chicken Meatball Sandwich! I was inspired by a banh mi, which is why I added pickled carrots and cucumber. It’s also the main reason I tossed the meatballs in that sticky fish sauce caramel. The meatballs were already good, but the caramel sauce cranked the goodness to a whole new level.
How did I come up with this recipe?
I made these meatballs for a different recipe, but the recipe didn’t actually work out! I had all these leftover meatballs and did my favorite thing to do with leftover meatballs- make an awesome sandwich with them a few days later. This was first inspired by a banh mi, so I coated the meatballs in a sweet fish sauce caramel. Sweet, salty, sour, and spicy with a strong essence of ginger and Thai basil. So good that I forgot all about messing up the other recipe and instead started making the meatballs for this sandwich!
Let’s make the Ginger Chicken Meatballs
Lately I have been putting caramelized onions in my meatballs and it’s been a revelation. Unbelievable! I first saw this method from Anne Burrell. The combo of the fresh onion flavor from the scallions, and the cooked onion flavor from the caramelized onions works so perfectly. Everything in here enhances the ginger flavor too.
Ingredients in the ginger chicken meatballs
- butter
- onion
- chicken
- garlic
- ginger
- scallions
- fish sauce
- wet bread
- salt
Traditional Vietnamese meatballs are often coated in a caramel sauce. That’s why I wanted to do the caramel sauce, even though these meatballs are anything but traditional. All you do to make the caramel is heat the sugar and water, then add a splash of sriracha and fish sauce once it gets a golden brown color.
Building the ginger chicken meatball sandwich
Cucumbers down first, then the glazed meatballs. Make sure to add extra glaze! Top with some quick pickled carrots and Thai basil leaves. To make the carrot and radish I just boiled some vinegar and poured it over the veggies then let it sit for an hour.
Twists on this recipe
If you made these with store bought meatballs and added a little ginger to the glaze, it would still be really good and close to what I made here. I personally am not a big fan of store bought meatballs, but I support you and the decisions you need to make!
I also used a grocery store baguette, but if you used a more authentic vietnamese bread it would be even better.
If you are looking for more sandwiches that are a mash-up of different flavors from around the world, check out my red curry fried fish sandwich, the Korean Reuben, or the fried chicken paneer sandwich.
Ginger Chicken Meatball Sandwich
Ingredients
pickles
- 1 cup grated radish
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 cup white vinegar
meatballs
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 pound chicken
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 2 inches ginger grated
- 4 scallions
- 1 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 slice wet bread
- 1 large pinch salt
sauce
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
sandwich
- 1 small cucumber
- 15 basil leaves
- 1 long baguette
Instructions
- To quick pickle the carrots and radish, just boil the rice vinegar, then pour it over shredded carrots and radish. Fill to the top with a little water, then season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar and let it sit an hour or 2.
- To start the meatballs, add the butter to a frying pan over medium heat and add the diced onion. Cook about 15 minutes to soften and start browning. Allow to cool for 5 minutes
- Mix all the meatball ingredients including the cooked onions in a large bowl. Line them up on a baking sheet and broil about 7 minutes, flip, broil about 5 minutes until cooked through.
- To make the sauce for the meatballs, in a pan heat the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves.Once dissolved, stop stirring. Bring to a boil and when it starts to brown, kill the heat and add the meatballs and a squirt of sriracha and fish sauce. Stir and coat the meatballs and allow them to heat through.
- Slice the bread into three sandwich sized rolls. Cut and toast the roll, top with cucumbers, then the meatballs, then the carrots, and basil. Serve!
This looks like a killer bank mi Dan! Next time I have leftover meatballs, I definitely know what I’ll be doing with them =)
Caramel meatballs?! You’re a crazy man. Love it.
Fun twist in a meatball sub! Love the caramel. Awesome idea!