Asian Meatball Lettuce Cups

<article itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Recipe"> <section itemprop="description"> <p>The trick to getting through a long, hard week is to make your mealtimes awesome. Splurging on decadent, delicious ingredients like wagyu beef is an easy way to make any dinner feel special. Bonus: wagyu beef offers some potent health benefits! When you combine those healthy ingredients with easy recipes like these Asian meatballs, you can have a restaurant-quality meal whenever you want.</p> </section> <section> <header>What Is Wagyu Beef?</header> <p>You’ve probably heard the term “wagyu beef” tossed around foodie circles. It’s the fanciest beef out there, commanding high prices and treated with reverence by TV chefs. But what is wagyu beef, anyway?</p> <p>Simple! It’s beef that comes from one of four breeds of Japanese cows raised in a special way. The most prized is Kobe beef, which comes from Tajima cows raised in Japan’s Hyogo province. The special rearing method is what makes wagyu so pricey. Calves are fed by hand, dressed in jackets in the cold, and generally pampered. When they get a bit older, they’re moved to finishing farms where they enjoy thick straw beds, continue that healthy diet, and occasionally even get stress-relieving brushdowns. Wagyu cattle all get birth certificates and are given names rather than numbers. Basically, they’re the royalty of cattle!</p> <p>All that special treatment makes a difference in the beef we eat. Wagyu beef has a significant amount of fat marbled through it, which gives it a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Plus, because it takes about 3 years to raise a wagyu calf to market size, as opposed to 15 months for other cattle, there’s more time for complex flavor to develop. It also means there’s less pressure to fatten the cow quickly—a factor that often leads to the use of unhealthy supplements in other kinds of beef.</p> <div class="sub-head">Is Wagyu Beef Healthier?</div> <p>Wagyu beef has a higher proportion of healthy monounsaturated fats than regular beef—up to 300 percent more! It’s especially high in oleic acid, which helps <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9129503" rel="noreferrer">reduce cholesterol</a>. Plus, it has particularly high amounts of heart-healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Studies have even shown that eating wagyu beef can help <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5243954/" rel="noreferrer">prevent cardiovascular disease</a>! And because the diet of wagyu cattle is strictly controlled, there are no antibiotics or artificial hormones being used.</p> <p>However, all those special procedures and the longer time to market means that wagyu beef can be extremely expensive. If it’s beyond your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.warriormade.com/content/diet/keto-on-a-budget" rel="noreferrer">budget</a>, a good alternative is to choose <a target="_blank" href="https://www.warriormade.com/content/diet/is-grassfed-beef-worth-the-price-tag" rel="noreferrer">grass-fed organic beef</a>. You can still avoid antibiotics and added hormones, as well as enjoying more healthy unsaturated fats than in standard commercial beef.</p> </section> <section> <header>Is Soy Sauce Good for Me? </header> <p>Soy sauce is a key ingredient in tons of Asian recipes, whether you’re talking Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. But although soy is a traditional part of Asian diets dating back thousands of years, there is a lot of controversy about whether it’s actually good for your health.</p> <p>That’s because soy contains high amounts of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.warriormade.com/content/diet/fermented-foods-for-gut-health/" rel="noreferrer"><i>phytoestrogens</i></a>, naturally occurring compounds in plants that mimic the effects of estrogen in the human body. One potent phytoestrogen found in soy, <i>isoflavones</i>, may be especially problematic. Some studies indicate that soy products can raise the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24586662" rel="noreferrer">risk of breast cancer</a>, although this may be related to the type of soy consumed (and whole or fermented soy may be less risky).</p> <p>There’s also some evidence that soy isoflavones may affect your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9464451" rel="noreferrer">thyroid</a>, making it function less efficiently. That, in turn, can affect your metabolism, weight, and energy levels.</p> <p>For those worried about the food chain, there’s another reason to avoid soy: about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fda.gov/food/food-new-plant-varieties/consumer-info-about-food-genetically-engineered-plants" rel="noreferrer">90 percent</a> of the soy consumed in the US is genetically modified. If you’re skeptical about GMOs, either avoid soy altogether or choose organic products labeled non-GMO.</p> <div class="sub-head">What Can I Swap for Soy Sauce in Recipes?</div> <p>Made from fermented soybeans and often including wheat proteins, soy sauce is a potent addition to many Asian dishes. So if you’re trying to avoid soy, it can seem like every Asian food is suddenly off limits!</p> <p>Thankfully, there’s a great healthy alternative called <i>coconut aminos</i>. Made by fermenting the sap of the coconut palm with salt, coconut aminos taste like a milder, slightly sweet version of soy sauce. Unlike soy sauce, however, coconut aminos are soy-, wheat-, and gluten-free—a perfect option for anyone sensitive to these foods.</p> <p>Better still, coconut aminos can help lower your sodium intake. That’s because a teaspoon of coconut aminos only has 90 milligrams of sodium, in contrast to the whopping 280 in soy sauce! Yes, that is <i>per teaspoon</i>. Make this easy switch and you get all of the delicious flavor of soy sauce with none of the potential health drawbacks.</p> </section> <hr class="divider-15 divider-thick mx-auto"> <section class="recipe"> <header itemprop="name">Asian Meatball Lettuce Cups</header> <div class="prep"> <span> <meta itemprop="prepTime" content="PT15M">Prep Time: 15 minutes</span> <span> <meta itemprop="cookTime" content="PT35M">Cooking Time: 25 minutes</span> <span> <meta itemprop="recipeYield">Serves: 4 (makes about 45 meatballs)</span> </div> <div class="sub-head">Ingredients:</div> <ul class="ingredients no-bullet"> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">1 pound ground pork</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">1 pound ground wagyu beef</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">3 tablespoons coconut aminos</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">&frac13; cup minced onion (from about 1/2 medium onion)</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">&frac12; cup diced jalapenos</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">&frac14; cup fresh cilantro, chopped</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">3 cloves garlic, minced</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">Romaine lettuce leaves (for serving)</li> <li itemprop="recipeIngredient">Toasted sesame seeds (for serving)</li> </ul> <hr class="divider-50 divider-medium"> <div class="sub-head">Instructions:</div> <ol itemprop="recipeInstructions"> <li>Preheat the oven to 400°F. <li>Add all the ingredients except lettuce to a large bowl and mix until evenly combined.</li> <li>Roll about a tablespoon of meat mixture in your hands to form a small ball. Place in a large roasting pan and repeat until all the mixture is used up, spacing the meatballs evenly in the pan.</li> <li>Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through, turning once halfway through the cooking time to ensure even browning.</li> <li>Remove from the oven and allow meatballs to cool slightly.</li> <li>In the meantime, separate leaves of romaine lettuce from the head; wash and dry thoroughly.</li> <li>Place 2-3 meatballs in a leaf, sprinkle with sesame seeds, fold, and eat.</li> </ol> </section> </article>