Lamb Meatballs, Snow Pea Sprouts with Shacha Sauce

One of the perks of having a housemate from a country other than Malaysia is the opportunity to see what he/she cooks in the kitchen. Not that all  the housemates I had were good cooks but sometimes, you might be able to pick up a thing or two if  you open your eyes and observe carefully (and to close one eye (to some extent) when it comes to cleanliness or strange house guests for the rest of the time. Yep,  you can  say that’s my guide to live harmoniously with non-family members :P).

Anyway, one of the many rewards was the introduction to sha cha (沙茶) sauce. When the sauce first came to light, I have no idea what the sauce might contain. After all, the term sha cha has no indication of the ingredients as soy sauce and black bean sauce have.

{Side note: The plating I was going for was a meatball croquembouche. Not too tacky, I hope. :P}

*Sheepishly* It’s pretty obvious that my knowledge of Asian sauces is not great (there’s still room for more exploration – translation: more justified trips  to Asian groceries!!).  If my past Asian recipes served any hints, I pretty much stick to the standards ones like soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce and sambal sauce (uhm, just realised that sambal is not too standard to some of you).

Clearly, apart from these known ones to the vast majority, there are still more untapped but equally versatile sauces have yet to be discovered. So for the purpose of this post, say hello to shacha sauce!

{A glimpse of sha cha (沙茶) sauce. More info here.}

{Snow pea sprouts – taste like the size zero version of bean sprouts (aka taugeh in Hokkein)}

Lamb Meatballs, Snow Pea Sprouts with Sacha Sauce

(A Fuss Free Cooking recipe)

After some quick googling, it seems like sacha sauce and lamb is a popular combination. I’ve tried this sauce with tofu and asian green as well as chicken. So far I’m quite happy either combination but if I have to pick a favourite, lamb is top on my list.

The sauce is quite salty and sweet on its own, and there’s a hint of nuttiness which makes it tastes unusual. But nothing too overpowering though.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients for meatballs:-

450g minced lamb

1/2 tbsp grated ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

A drop sesame oil

1/2 tbsp sacha sauce

1 tbsp semolina

Ingredients for stir-fry:-

1/2 inch thick ginger, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 dried chillies or 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)

1 tbsp sacha sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

A handful of snow pea sprouts

Method:

To make the meatballs: Preheat the griller. Combine all the ingredients and work the meat dough until pliable. Form a 1/2 inch in diameter meatballs and repeat this step with the remaining meat.  Then, grill them for 15 – 20 minutes, turning once. Set aside and quickly move on to make the stir-fry.

To make the stir-fry: On low heat and with a little oil, saute the ginger, dried chillies and garlic until aromatic. Add sacha sauce, soy sauce, sugar, snow peas sprouts and  the meatballs, stir to combine. Cook until the sprouts are lightly wilted. (FYI: Sacha sauce shouldn’t spend too long in the pan to avoid burning.)

{起筷 (hei fai)! – Literally means lift your chopsticks in Cantonese; coloquially means “let’s start”}