Meatball and Egg Sarciado

Well another weekend request from my wife. This time her cravings for meaty meatballs came into play for Meatball and Egg Sarciado. Sarciado is a tomato base sauce with simple ingredients like garlic, onions, a splash of patis (fish sauce) and vinegar with a slight subtle sweetness. This time the main ingredient is meatballs and hard boiled eggs. I made a plain Egg Sarciado for my wife before that came out pretty good for my protein diet. The tomato sauce gives it a rich flavor to it. Here is the recipe.

Meatball and Egg Sarciado

Ingredients:

12 eggs hard boiled and shelled
3-4 lbs of fresh ground beef, rolled into 1/2 inch diameter meatballs (pre-season with salt and pepper)
1 egg
1 large whole tomato, sliced
2 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed and minced fine
Dash fresh cracked black pepper
patis (fish sauce/nuoc mam) to taste
vinegar to taste
MSG to taste (optional)
1 bay laurel leaf, ripped in half
1 small onion, sliced
1 Tbsp canola oil
1-2 cups water, more or less
1 8oz can tomato sauce or 1/4 cup tomato paste
1-2 tsp Splenda or sugar

Instructions:

In a pot place 12 eggs and cover with water. Bring to a boil then lower to a medium heat and cook eggs hardboiled for about 15 minutes. Rinse in running cold water and peel shells off of eggs. Drain from water and set aside for later.
Prepare meatballs by mixing ground beef in a mixing bowl with salt and pepper and egg. Mix well and roll into meatballs.
Heat oil in frying pan and brown meatballs until well done. Do not burn. Drain on paper towels.
In same frying pan saute garlic, onions, tomatoes and bay leaf until onions are translucent. Do not burn garlic.
Add tomato paste and water and let boil for 2 minutes. Season with black pepper and MSG.
Add meatballs and hardboiled eggs. Splash patis and vinegar to taste. Adjust flavor to your preference. Add Splenda to desired sweetness. Simmer for 10 minutes to let sauce cook down and thicken.

Serves 6

Serve with hot steamed white or brown rice.

Enjoy!!