Asian Inspired Turkey-Tofu Meatballs with Brown Sauce Over Shirataki Noodles

This was, quite surprisingly, a hit in our house. With one of us (me) picky about meat, and another one low-carb, and another one with food "texture" issues, and another who would prefer to eat nothing but vanilla yogurt and icecream...  everyone ate this meal and liked it!  The trick was to season each element well and separately.  That way the kids could skip the "spicy" (by kid standards) gingery brown sauce and eat separately the noodles that could've stood on their own flavored with oil, garlic, and basil.

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Brown Sauce

Serves 4

Meatballs

1 carrot, shredded

1lb ground turkey

1/2 lb (1/2 block) firm tofu, crumbled

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp sherry wine

2 tbsp tamari

1/4 tsp white pepper powder

1 tbsp tapioca starch

2 tbsp sesame oil

Sauce:

1/2 cup stock (chicken or "chinese stock")

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp sherry wine

2 tbsp tamari

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp tapioca starch (or not... my sauce was a little thick)

1 tbsp light olive oil

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp minced ginger

Add all the meatball ingredients into a big bowl and squish it together until the mixture is evenly combined. Form into tablespoon-sized meatballs.  Put about 1/2 inch of water into a skillet and heat to boiling.  Add meatballs to skillet and cover to steam.  Flip meatballs after about 3 minutes of steaming and remove the cover from the skillet.  Allow water to boil off and meatballs to start browning.  Remove from heat and serve.

While the meatballs are steaming, start your sauce.

Mix stock, oyster sauce, wine, tamari, white pepper, and starch in a small bowl.  Whisk until starch is completely dissolved.  

Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in a saucepan until warm.  Add garlic and ginger.  Stir and saute' until it becomes strongly fragrant and the garlic and ginger become translucent, but not browned. Pour sauce into the pan and stir until it is thick enough to coat a spoon. Transfer into a serving bowl immediately. 

Serve over Shirataki Noodles:  Drained, rinsed, and sauteed  with olive oil, garlic, and herbs of choice (I used basil). 

Enjoy!!