Ginger pork meatballs with cilantro and fish sauce from Dinner: Changing the Game (page 101) by Melissa Clark

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Smashed Sichuan cucumber salad; Coconut rice

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • crotondo37 on March 02, 2026

    Very delicious, served over rice noodles and broccoli. The dipping sauce was a nice sauce over everything. Had 1.25lbs pork, so upped the other ingredients a bit as well. I agree with another commenter - they came out a little dry, but the flavor was really great. I also pan cooked these rather than broil.

  • SGnolek on December 14, 2025

    Didn't have Siracha sauce, so we used a little chili crisp oil instead and the dipping sauce was really good that way.

  • bernalgirl on February 27, 2025

    We really enjoyed these as lettuce wraps with herbs, nuoc cham and bánh h?i (fine rice noodle “pads”). The pork seemed a bit dry, next time I’d leave the lime juice out of the meatballs to see if that helps.

  • averythingcooks on August 06, 2023

    I made these meatballs to glaze (in a jam/apple cider vinegar based sauce) and served them with sauteed sliced sweet peppers & broccoli over cauliflower rice - a very nice dinner bowl. We loved the flavour profile here (with Thai basil & oyster sauce replacing the cilantro & fish sauce) but I did wish they were a little more tender (I oven roast meatballs but perhaps I over cooked them?)...maybe next time I will add some milk soaked panko or grated onion to see if that helps.

  • jhallen on August 28, 2022

    I thought these were really good. I served them with rice with the sauce drizzled over both. Very good.

  • twoyolks on April 11, 2020

    I liked the flavor of the meatballs but they just seemed odd as meatballs.

  • purrviciouz on April 05, 2020

    These were quite delicious although a little crumbly. I served them with rice, pickled carrot, and sauteed greens.

  • ksg518 on March 24, 2020

    We really liked these. We substituted shallots for the scallions but otherwise followed the recipe. We served them with rice so the sauce was on the rice and not used as a dipping sauce. We also used the meatballs and rice as a filling for lettuce wraps which worked out very well. A definite repeat.

  • TrishaCP on March 22, 2020

    This dish has been on my “to make” list for ages and it didn’t disappoint. Lots to chop so prepare the meatballs in advance if you are cooking on a weeknight. I didn’t like the dipping sauce alone when I tasted it (I was wondering about all of the comments below from people who disliked it)- but I liked it fine together with the meatballs.

  • e_ballad on March 01, 2020

    I enjoyed these & they were a doddle to prepare. Best of all, they can be prepared ahead of time, making them a super-quick midweek meal.

  • Lucylew on September 24, 2019

    The meatballs were delicious and really didn't need the sauce, which is good since I didn't care for the dipping sauce. Served with white rice and broccoli dressed with sesame oil.

  • imaluckyducky on September 22, 2019

    Decided to try a different variation of pork meatballs, similar to Smitten Kitchen's recipe with the coconut broth. I added more of the cilantro, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce to the mixture per other reviewer's recommendation (and my preference). These meatballs are softer than Smitten Kitchen's, and are at risk for drying out from overcooking due to the lack of eggs or breadcrumbs (don't worry, they stick together just fine!). Had to pan-cook them as well instead of broiling - they didn't get brown enough before pork fat started splattering everywhere. The dipping sauce is extremely nice and a fun and different way to eat them, per the 3yo. Served with somen noodles with ponzu sauce and smashed sichuan cucumbers.

  • cdglamontagne on May 26, 2019

    I love these! Have made them once with ground pork and once with ground turkey. Ground pork was better, duh. They taste like the inside of a dumpling but I agree with others they can be a bit band without the dipping sauce. There's definitely a lot of chopping involved but it comes together pretty quickly once you're done.

  • pandasaurusrex on July 19, 2017

    I'm in the camp that thought these meatballs were just so-so. For all the yummy ingredients that went into them, they were rather underwhelming in flavor (or perhaps overpowered by the fish sauce). I pan-fried them based on the other reviews. I also thought there was something "off" about the proportions in the dipping sauce but couldn't put my finger on it.

  • raybun on June 09, 2017

    I'm adding my praise to this recipe. They were delicious! I pan fried mine to colour them, then finished cooking them in the oven covered in foil. They were very moist and SO flavourful. The family loved them. I served them with the coconut rice and Sichuan cucumber salad from the same book

  • bwhip on June 06, 2017

    These were really great, and easy for a weeknight. I served them with the Coconut Rice and Smashed Cucumbers from the same cookbook as the author recommended, and it was a really nice combination. I cooked the meatballs in a pan on the stovetop to give them a nicely seared exterior, as suggested by some of the previous reviewers. Flavor of the meatballs and dipping sauce was just great.

  • Astrid5555 on April 18, 2017

    These are exceptional! I followed the other reviewers' suggestions and pan-fried the meatballs instead of broiling them, which worked really well. The dipping sauce on top elevated this dish to something really special. Not very involved and really weeknight-dinner friendly. Will definitely make again!

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    We broiled these as well, and I wish I could rave about them like everyone else, but truthfully they weren't my favorite. I do think pan-frying would have helped. There was something about the dipping sauce that I didn't really enjoy--I think maybe it was too salty.

  • Delys77 on April 12, 2017

    We went with the broiler method and it took about 10 minutes under my broiler. It was easy and the flavour profile was pretty good but we found the dipping sauce overpowering and the meatballs only so so under the broiler. I wish I had read the other reviews prior to attempting as the pan fried would likely have been more to our taste.

  • DKennedy on April 04, 2017

    I stovetop cooked up one meatball to test for taste purposes, and it is so flavorful and addictively delicious I couldn't wait to serve them up. My initial thought was that these would make wonderful lettuce wraps or banh mi/dumpling filling . Note that I doubled the amount of ground pork called for in the recipe, and modified the other ingredients as follows: 6 garlic cloves, and 4 teaspoons lime juice. All the other ingredients I left at the single batch measurements. With this liquid to solid ratio, the meatballs are not too wet to start as was a complaint of other people who made these. FWIW, the oven broiled version were not as flavorful as the stovetop, but mush easier to prep. Next time, I may opt to make these stove top. The Dipping sauce is fantastic.

  • BethNH on March 31, 2017

    These meatballs and the dipping sauce were to die for delicious. Although there was a lot of chopping the recipe was easy to follow. Everyone loved it and we will definitely make this again.

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