Hawaiian Meatballs

Honestly, I had never imagined such a thing as meatballs in a sweet- and sour sauce with pineapples and peppers, served with rice until I found it at The Pioneer Woman. It sounded rather strange to me... but appealing, too. I bookmarked it and cooked it as soon as I found a nice pineapple - and it was actually really good. Definitely a keeper!

I've changed the quantities slightly, but if you prefer US measurements, just use Ree's recipe.

Hawaiian Meatballs
serves 4

500 g ground beef
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 egg
100 ml breadcrumbs (panko is preferrable, but regular are fine)
salt, pepper, chili flakes (about 1/2 tsp of each)
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
cooking oil for frying
2 green bellpeppers, diced
1/2-1 fresh pineapple (depending on how big it is and how much you like pineapple), diced
500 ml beef stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
100 ml sherry vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
salt, chili flakes

Mix beef, onion, egg, breadcrumbs, and a little salt, pepper and chili together. Shape small meatballs and place on a cutting board or baking sheet. Freeze them for about 15 minutes, so that they firm up - it'll make them hold their shape much better.

Mix stock, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and corn starch. Set aside.

Roll the meatballs in the flour, and brown in cooking oil on medium-high heat. They don't need to be completely cooked through at this stage, but they should be nicely browned. Work in batches. Set the browned meatballs aside.

Pour out any remaining oil, and fry the bellpeppers for about a minute. Add the pineapple, and fry for another minute. Add the sauce mixture, and the meatballs. Stir, and cook on low-medium heat until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are cooked through.

Season with salt, and some more chili flakes. Serve over rice.

Recipe in Swedish:
Köttbullar Hawaii