Pinoy meatballs

CEBU, Philippines — Now that the kids are way into the school term, meal issues may have already arisen. The young ones may have already reached a taste fatigue with the usual hotdogs and eggs and other such usual staples for breakfast and the lunch box. And the schoolchildren’s diet affects their performance in class.

True, kids love hotdog and bacon and eggs in various recipes – but after a while, these can be quite suffocating. It may not work anymore to delegate the kids’ meals to the househelps. Some parents take the matter into their own hands, meaning that they are quite hands-on when it comes to what their kids eat.

There’s need for creativity in the kitchen, especially in homes with school-age kids. Homemakers are continually searching for recipes that have several possibilities to them. One example is meatballs, which can be fried, or made into a soup with noodles or veggies, or cooked in sauce or barbequed etc. 

Most kids love fried foods. And fried meatballs are easy to pair with simple catsup as dip, catsup being another kid favorite because it is sweet. Meatballs in sweet-and-sour sauce have the same appeal to the young taste buds.

Of course, just like hotdog and bacon and egg, meatballs won’t do for all time, either. Meatballs, though, can add to the available options that have several possibilities. Meatballs are such a versatile dish – good by itself, with or without the dipping sauce.

Meatballs are easy to make with any ground meat available and may be seasoned with any spices as desired. For the extender used in the meatballs mixture, flour or breadcrumbs are usually the ones used by some, although others use veggies like carrots or grated turnips. One may experiment according to one’s taste.

With little kids in mind, it may be ideal to limit the size of each meatball to one inch or one-and-a-half inches in diameter, for the little hands to be able to comfortably hold. The meatballs may be made in bulk and cooked in batches, with the rest kept in the refrigerator waiting for their time. Always, the ready dish is hard to resist even by the picky eaters.

Okay, the name “meatballs’ may ring as rather too high sounding for some.  It’s actually what’s called “bola-bola” locally. The thing is, the Pinoy “bola-bola” has a distinct character (and taste?) of its own; one will know when it’s “bola-bola” and not just any meatballs.

Again, it’s possible to make other recipes with meatballs as base – like sweet-and-sour meatballs, Filipino-style spaghetti, filling for siopao etc. Here’s a simple Pinoy meatballs recipe from the website www.filipino-food-recipes.com:

“Bola-Bola”

Ingredients:

½ kg Ground Beef

½ kg Ground Pork

1 medium Onion, chopped finely

2 cloves Garlic, minced finely

½ cup dry breadcrumbs or 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 large Egg, beaten

1 tablespoon Salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

Oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Mix all the ingredients together, except for the cooking oil.

2. Portion the mixture into small balls, each about 1 inch in diameter. Use a small ice cream scooper to get even sizes.

3. Lightly roll into balls without packing tightly, to keep it from getting dense and dry inside once cooked.

4. Heat up the oil in the pan and fry the bola-bola in batches. Do not overcrowd the frying pan and handle as minimally as possible to keep it from losing shape or falling apart.

5. Once golden brown, set the bola-bola on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Tips:

If breadcrumbs are not available, substitute with ¼ cup all-purpose flour. The flour, though, will make the inside of the bola-bola firm and not as moist.

Where frying is avoided, bake the meatballs instead. Pre-heat oven at 375 °F, place the meatballs on a shallow baking pan, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.