Photo: Chinese Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- Salt
- 1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
- 1 pound ground pork or chicken
- 1 egg
- 2 cups puffed rice cereal
- Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder, 1/3 palm full
- 8 scallions, 2 finely chopped, 6 cut into 2-inch lengths
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup tamari dark soy, divided
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 cups snow peas, thinly sliced on an angle
- 1 red bell pepper, very thinly sliced
- 2 inches ginger root, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 pound triple washed spinach, leaves stripped of larger stems, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, available on Asian foods aisle of market
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, available on Asian foods aisle of market
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place a pot of water on to boil for spaghetti. When it comes to a boil, salt the water and add pasta to cook to al dente. Heads up: reserve 1/2 cup cooking water just before draining.
Place pork in a mixing bowl. Add the egg to the bowl. Place rice cereal in food processor and pulse into a bread crumb like consistency. Add cereal crumbs to bowl.
Add salt, pepper, five-spice powder, 2 chopped scallions and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Mix the meat balls thoroughly. Form 1 1/2-inch balls and coat with 1 tablespoon oil, scatter onto a baking sheet and roast 15 minutes.
When the meatballs are close to done and the pasta is in, heat a large skillet over high heat with enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the skillet, a couple of tablespoons. Add the snow peas, red pepper, remaining cut scallions, ginger and garlic, stir-fry 2 minutes add spinach and wilt, 1 minute. Add the remaining soy sauce, about 1/3 cup, and the sesame oil then drain, add in pasta cooking water and toss to combine so pasta can soak up sauce, about 1 minute. Garnish with sesame seeds and top with lots of meatballs.
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By erona25
on March 24, 2013
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I have to say I was excited about this recipe...however, upon tasting it, I was very disappointed. While the combo of veggie tastes was stellar along with the soy sauce sesame oil and garlic, the meatballs were really bad. They were dry and greasy all at the same time. I didnt even toss them in the tblsp of oil, just rubbed them lightly before baking. I think it was the flavor of the five spice powder. Not an enjoyable flavor at all! Also, the five spice powder flavor totally clashes with the soy sauce and sesame flavors. This was a major downer and I won't be making this again. I would say make the pasta and veggies and serve with bbq teriyaki chicken for a much more enjoyable dish that actually has flavors that mesh together. Happy cooking everyone!
By cheesecake101
on July 11, 2012
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i love this recipe, it has become a staple in my kitchen.
i add a little more five spice because i like the flavor and opt the scallions for onions.
i also add canned carrots and change the snow peas for green peas.
i sauté all my vegetables first with oil and then add the pasta, then add the cooking water, soy sauce, and sesame oil. then let cook for about a minute.
hats off to rachel!
By Katherine446
Cornelius, OR
on April 14, 2012
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I was so excited about this dish. I made it exactly. The spaghetti was very plain and lacking in any real flavor. It was ok but nothing really popped. As for the meat balls they had good flavor but were a bit mealy. Make sure you measure the rice cereal first before putting it in the food processor otherwise you will have to much and make them heavy and dry. I was really disappointed with this dish overall.
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