Easy Asian Flavoured Chicken & Pork Meatball Subs!

Looking for something delicious for lunch or a quick dinner? Here meatballs take on an Asian flavoured with chicken, lemongrass and chilli meatballs or pork and kaffir lime leaf meatballs. They're juicy, easy to make and a real crowd pleaser!

I almost feel silly putting these up as a recipe as they're so simple. Even better they can be baked to keep the fat content down on these and to free you up so that you don't have to spend 10 minutes turning balls on the stovetop. Because even 10 minutes counts-I mean a lot can be done in 10 minutes. Time is precious yo!

One day I was running a little short on time. Which meant that I had to do something that I actively avoid doing-skipping or delaying a meal. I was rushing around doing errands and buying ingredients and then I had to meet Nina for a training session in Centennial Park. I didn't quite have enough time to squeeze in stopping at home for something to eat. Also I don't like working out after having just eaten.

But 5 minutes into the session I was feeling as weak as a kitten. I couldn't lift any weights properly and my arms felt like licorice. I got very little sympathy from Nina who was also very hungry. I started fake crying and then so did Nina and there we were, two grown women crying fake tears about being hungry in the middle of Centennial Park like fools. Even the dogs that usually come and say hello gave us a wide berth.

I did come up with a solution though and in my deranged state of hunger I thought that Nina would go for it. "Do you think we could get food delivered to us here?" I said hopefully. I was picturing my favourite banh mi delivered to me right where we were training. It would arrive hopefully mid-session and I was picturing lying down on the grass eating it.

But Nina was having none of it. "NO Lorraine!" she said sternly shaking her head. I couldn't get the idea of a banh mi sub out of my head. There's something so deliciously hunger busting about a sub sandwich. And then my mind wandered to the food that I had bought. I also had one stick of lemongrass left, some khaffir lime leaves and some chillies. And I went home and made these after a quick detour to the supermarket to buy the mince.

Honestly I was surprised at how so little could add so much flavour to plain mince. If you love the convenience of meatballs, these freeze really well, make great lunches and leftovers and what's not to love about that? And moral of the story is never skip a meal!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever skip or delay meals? If so, does it really affect you? And do you think 10 minutes is a long time?

Chicken & Lemongrass Meatballs

Makes around 20 meatballs, enough for 4-5 subs

• 500g/1.1lbs. chicken mince (you can also use beef or turkey mince)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs*
• 1 stick lemongrass, trimmed, woody outer layers removed
• 2 golden eschallots, peeled, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, finely diced
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 chillies
• Oil spray

Panko breadcrumbs are available in the Asian food section of the supermarket

Step 1 - I make life a bit easier by processing the lemongrass, eschallots, garlic and chilli together. Then place in a bowl and mix with the mince, breadcrumbs, fish sauce and sugar. Mix well and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 2 - Shape into balls (I use a small ice cream scoop which I swear by for things like this). You can either fry these or bake them. I usually bake them at 200C/400F on a tray for 15 minutes (spray them first with oil spray to keep them juicy) and then give them a final fry in a frying pan just to give them a bit of colour.

Pork & Kaffir Lime Meatballs

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes plus 30 minutes resting time

Cooking time: 20 minutes

• 500g/1.1lbs. pork mince (you can also use beef or turkey mince)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs*
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, cut into fine strips
• 2 golden eschallots, peeled, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, finely diced
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Step 1 - Process the kaffir lime leaves, eschallots and garlic together. Then place in a bowl and mix with the pork mince, breadcrumbs, fish sauce and sugar. Mix well and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 2 - Shape into balls (I use a small ice cream scoop which I swear by for things like this). You can either fry these or bake them. I usually bake them at 200C/400F on a tray for 15 minutes and then give them a final fry in a frying pan just to give them a bit of colour.