Vegan Sweet and Sour Meatballs (Filipino Bola-Bola)
Growing up in the Philippines, one of my favourite dishes growing up was a Sweet and Sour Bola-Bola (Meatballs) dish packed with a delicious sauce, lots of bell peppers, onions, pineapple, carrot. I used my homemade bola-bola or meatballs and the sauce beautifully coats the fried balls for a super tasty meal.
Ingredients
- 20 pieces bola-bola or meatballs , see homemade recipe here
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/4 cup sugar adjust according to desired sweetness
- 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice from the chunks see notes
- 5 tbsp banana ketchup or tomato ketchup, I used a mix
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- Dash of ground pepper
For Stir-Frying
- 1-2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 1 small carrot halved and thinly sliced
- 1 small red bell pepper seeded and sliced into small squares
- 1 small green bell pepper seeded and sliced into small squares
- 1 cup pineapple chunks or tidbits in extra light syrup/juice, around 120g
To Serve
- Steamed Rice
Instructions
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a large bowl or measuring cup. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved. Set aside.
Stir-Frying
- Heat a pan or wok over medium high heat. Add 1-2 tbsp neutral oil.
- Once hot, stir-fry the onion, carrot, and bell peppers for 2-3 minutes until the carrots are tender.
- Add in the pineapple chunks and cook for 1 minutes
- Lower the heat to medium. Give the sauce a good mix again since the starch tends to sit at the bottom.
- Over medium heat, pour in the sauce to the pan.
- Mix well and then leave the sauce to boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Continuously mix until the sauce thickens.
- Once the sauce has thickened, add in the bola-bola or meat balls and immediately mix well in the sauce. Leave the meatballs to simmer in the sauce for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat then serve the sweet and sour bola-bola or meatballs immediately. Enjoy this while hot with some steamed rice.
WATCH Video
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 141kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 278mg | Potassium: 95mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg
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