Look Chin Pad Priao Wan

Thai Meatballs in Sweet and Sour Sauce

I could never really stand sweet and sour Asian dishes until I recently made a Thai sweet and sour sauce myself. This one had a spicy component from the addition of Sriracha sauce, wasn’t overly sweet, and didn’t have the sticky consistency of its Chinese counterparts.

So today I’d like to present my recipe for Thai meatballs in sweet and sour sauce or “Look Chin Pad Priao Wan” ( ลูกชิ้นผัดเปรี้ยวหวาน ). Of course, you have free choice when selecting the vegetables, but I can absolutely recommend the combination of bell pepper, cucumber, and pineapple.

Ingredients for two servings

  • 12 Look Chin (Thai meatballs)
  • one clove garlic
  • a quarter cucumber
  • 50g (1.8 oz) fresh pineapple, diced
  • 50g (1.8 oz) red bell pepper
  • 50g (1.8 oz) unsalted cashews
  • one spring onion
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • jasmine rice for serving

Sweet and Sour Sauce

  • 2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp roasted sesame oil
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Preparation

I’m assuming you’re working with already prepared Look Chin for this recipe. If you still need to prepare these meatballs, I refer you to one of several recipes for Look Chin that I’ve compiled in my Thai Food Lexicon. If you’re using ready-made Look Chin, we can get started right away.

As with all wok dishes, thorough preparation of all ingredients is essential. Therefore, we first prepare the sweet and sour sauce by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl and stirring well until the palm sugar has completely dissolved. We then set the finished sauce aside.

Then we peel the garlic and cut it into fine pieces. Next, we quarter the cucumber lengthwise and cut it into long pieces. We cut the bell pepper into strips and then dice the fresh pineapple. Finally, we cut the spring onion into narrow rings.

Next, we heat a wok or a pan with a high rim and add the vegetable oil. As soon as the oil is hot, we add the meatballs and sear them on all sides until they start to brown. Then we take them out of the wok and set them aside.

Now we fry the garlic and the white part of the spring onion in the still hot wok until the garlic starts to smell fragrant. Then we add the cucumber and pineapple and fry both while stirring constantly. Finally, we add the bell pepper strips together with the Look Chin and fry everything together for another minute.

In the next step, we add our sweet and sour sauce and mix it with all ingredients. Finally, we fold in the cashews and the green part of the spring onion, turn off the heat, and mix everything thoroughly once more.

Now we serve the finished Look Chin Pad Priao Wan on plates together with jasmine rice and a few cucumber slices and serve it while still steaming hot.

Tried this recipe?

Then take a yummy picture of your creation and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #derReiskoch and mention my account @der.reiskoch. I'm excited to see your picture!