Stir-fry Bean Sprouts, Chives & Ikea Meatballs
A veggies stir-fry with … Ikea meatballs? No you didn’t read wrongly. This is indeed a recipe for stir-fry bean sprouts, chives & Ikea meatballs. I bought two bags of frozen Ikea meatballs and after some time, I needed to break away from the monotony of adding the meatballs to my salads. Using Ikea meatballs in a stir-fry is really convenient – I cooked the meat balls in an air fryer (you can also use an oven, microwave or the stove), then slice them thinly for the stir-fry.
See Also:
- Stir-fry Vegetables (Yasai Itame)
- Stir-fry Bean Sprouts & Tricolor Peppers
- Stir-fry Chicken & Black Fungus
This is actually my practice dish for stir-fry bean sprouts, chives with liver (an izakaya dish I wanted to learn after watching Midnight Diner). Liver is cumbersome to prepare, so I practiced the recipe with Ikea meatballs which are convenient, delicious and ready-to-eat. Incidentally, I think the mellow duo of bean sprouts + garlic chives go very well with the richly seasoned Ikea meatballs. I suspect I am going to cook this ‘practice version’ quite often due to the convenience.
Ingredients & Preparation
- Prepare the garlic chives by cutting them to equal short lengths. The bottom ends of the chives gets stir-fried first, so separate them out.
- Wash the bean sprouts and dry them in a salad spinner.
- Cook the Ikea meatballs (I’m using an air fryer). You can also use a toaster or conventional oven, microwave or the stove. Cut each meatball, when cooled, to 3 to 4 slices.
- Make the stir-fry sauce with oyster sauce, soy sauce, sake, sugar, water, cornstarch and white pepper. Give it a good stir before adding the sauce to the pan.
Make The Dish
- I am using a (23 cm/9-inch) metal non-stick claypot which conducts heat very well, and is just the right size for serving it in the pan (and for photo-taking!). You can use a wokpan, frying pan or any heat-resistant claypot or casserole.
- Fry garlic and ginger until fragrant.
- Add bottom ends of the garlic chives and the bean sprouts. As soon as the bean sprouts start to soften, cover with lid to steam for about 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining chives and pour the prepared sauce evenly over the contents. Stir fry briskly to coat everything in the sauce.
- Lastly stir in the sliced Ikea meatballs, mix well and serve!
Stir-fry Bean Sprouts, Chives & Ikea Meatballs Recipe
The sauce is intended to coat the bean sprouts and garlic chives first. After that, the already well-seasoned Ikea meatballs are then added to the casserole.
You can replace Ikea meatballs with other ready-to-eat deli meats.
Check out the ingredients pictures and tips on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 5 frozen Ikea meatballs
- 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ginger slices finely chopped
- 100g bean sprouts
- 50g garlic chives cut to 5-cm (2-inch) lengths, separate out the bottom ends
(A) Sauce (mix well with a spatula)
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sake (optional)
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp corn starch
- a small dash of white pepper powder
Directions:
- Prepare meatballs. Cook meatballs (air fry, toaster, oven or pan fry on stove). When cooled, cut each meatball to 3-4 slices. Set aside.
- Cook the dish. Heat oil in a wokpan or a heat-resistant claypot. Fry garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add bean sprouts and the bottom ends of the garlic chives. Stir fry until the bean sprouts just started to wilt, cover with lid and steam for 2 minutes. Add the remaining garlic chives. Give the sauce a good stir and pour the sauce to the pan. Stir fry briskly until the bean sprouts and chives are well coated in the sauce.
- Stir in the meatballs, mix well and serve.
Cooking Note(s):
- I used the air fryer to cook the frozen Ikea meatballs at 200°C (392°F) for 5 minutes (no need to preheat). You can also use a toaster or conventional oven, a microwave or the stove.
- You can cook this dish without any meat. In that case, the dish will likely benefit from a bit more seasoning – I suggest seasoning to taste at the end with a salt and pepper blend.