Ken Hom'S East - West Spaghetti And Meatballs - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1 egg white
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 lb fresh water chestnuts, peeled and coarsely chopped or 6 ounces of canned water chestnuts, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons shaoxing rice wine or 2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
potato starch, for dusting
4 tablespoons peanut oil
Pasta
1 lb spaghetti

Preparation

Heat a heavy saucepan and swirl in the olive oil. When it's hot, add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Put the beef in a food processor and mix with the egg white and cold water for one minute. The mixture should be light and fluffy. Do not use a blender, as the mixture will be too dense. Then toss in the water chestnuts, soy sauces, rice wine, five spice powder, sugar, salt and pepper and mix for another 30 seconds. The mixture should be slightly coarse with bits of water chestnuts adding texture.
Divide the mixture into 16 equal parts and roll each part into a meatball. Dust each meatball with potato starch. Heat a wok until it's hot and add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. When the oil is hot and slightly smoking, drop in half of the meatballs, turn down the heat and slowly brown the meatballs. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and fry the remaining meatballs. Drain on paper towels.
Place the meatballs in the cooked tomato sauce, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta to package directions.
Arrange pasta on a platter, lay the meatballs on top, and pour sauce over all. Serve at once.