This recipe came from my yearning for something like vietnamese pork balls. I think they turned out pretty yummy and–Oh happy day!–so did my children.

Great on their own with a vietnamese dipping sauce, a very spicy chili oil or Thai sweet chili sauce. But by all means, serve them with pasta or rice noodles or even spicy soup! This is versatile batter that can be formed into burger patties too. If you want something more simple–especially for the younger children in your life–here is a useful SIMPLE bean burger recipe.

Ingredients
makes about 14-16 balls
2 cups – 2 1/4 cups cooked and mashed butter beans (not from a can!)
2/3 cup almond meal (or other ground nut)
2/3 cup breadcrumbs or panko flakes
1 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 to 1 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 chili, chopped finely (deseeded or not)
handful choppped cilantro and spring onion
juice of 1/2 a lime
4 tbs good quality soy sauce or to taste
dash toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

1) Mix all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning. Adjust the texture by adding more breadcrumbs if it seems too wet, or adding more mashed butter beans if it seems to dry. But bear in mind these will be soft regardless. As long as they hold together when you are rolling them, you’re golden.
2) Form and roll into meat balls and set on wax paper. Have a platter with paper towel ready before frying.
3) Heat up enough olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or wok to shallow fry. Place about 6 or so of the butter bean balls into the oil and fry on medium heat, turning, until browned on all sides. If they get dark brown really quickly, your heat is too high.
4) Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on the paper towel.
5) Can be heated up in the microwave or oven.

Again, I like them with this sauce but a thai sweet chili sauce would be good too.