Delicious meatballs from around the world, a favorite for meat eaters

For meat lovers, meat is a lifesaver, and a day without it feels like a chore. However, meat is no longer a staple food; it's become a snack! Travelers are increasingly concerned about the quality of their food. In this article, we'll offer some gourmet recommendations, introducing meatballs from nine different countries and recommending great places to try them in the United States.
1. Swedish Meatballs
While Swedish meatballs, like other meatball variations, are made with pork or beef, they are enhanced with veal, fried onions, allspice, and white peppers. Traditionally, they are served with gravy, potatoes, lingonberry sauce, and pickles.
At Red Rooster Harlem, you'll find exceptional meatballs made with veal, pork, beef tenderloin, and honey.
2. Italian Meatballs

Served Italian-style, these golf-ball-sized meatballs, made from beef or pork and filled with garlic, cheese, and celery, can be enjoyed on their own as a main course or used in soup.
        In Nashville, chef Philip Krajek of Rolf and Daughters creates a unique take on farm-style meatballs. He uses beef, often dry and tangy, but the meatballs are balanced by tart tomato sauce, bitter dandelions, and salty Roquefort cheese, creating a surprisingly satisfying dish.
3. Indian meatballs


        While hundreds of different names for meatballs have emerged from North Africa to Bangladesh, in the Middle East and South Asia, they're still traditionally called "kofla," which means "crushed" in Persian. In India, meatballs are typically made with chopped lamb or fish, mixed with spices, onions, rice, bulgur wheat, or sometimes just tomatoes. Cooking techniques vary, including roasting, frying, steaming, boiling, and sometimes baking with a spiced sauce.
At Badmaash, a restaurant in Los Angeles, the meatballs are made with a variety of ingredients, making them juicy and tempting.　　
4. Vietnamese meatballs


        In Vietnam, most meatballs (Xui Mai) are cooked in soup or tomato sauce, but in the capital, Hanoi, they are baked and served with rice noodles, garlic, and caviar.
At Malai Kitchen, the meatballs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They're made with pork and sweet Vietnamese caramel, and come with fresh herbs, caviar, and lettuce wraps.
5. Spanish Meatballs


        Like most Spanish dishes, albóndigas, small meatballs in a tomato sauce, have their origins in Moorish kitchens and were introduced to Spain before the 15th century.
Instead of using traditional pork, beef, or lamb, Atlanta restaurant Iberian Pork carefully selects wild boar sausage and fragrant piquillo peppers to grill their meatballs, add caramelized onions and Roquefort cheese, and everything is perfectly blended with a Spanish smoked paprika sauce.
6. Japanese meatballs
Japanese meatballs (hanbāgu) are typically made with ground beef and pork, mixed with milk-soaked panko and onions, and served with ketchup and spicy soy sauce.
At Daikaya in Washington, D.C., the meatballs are served with a Hawaiian twist: incredibly smooth, made with Wagyu and Angus beef, they're topped with a warm egg and a sizzling red wine sauce.
7. Shanghai-style meatballs
As we all know, in Shanghai, the most famous meatball dish is braised lion's head.
While traveling in the United States, you can still enjoy this authentic Chinese-style delicacy at Fang Restaurant in San Francisco. I believe it will bring a sense of warmth and satisfaction to many travelers.
8. English Meatballs

         To make the most of all parts of the pork, the British invented faggots, fried meatballs mixed with herbs and breadcrumbs. This inexpensive dish has just the right amount of spice.
Jason Hicks, chef at Jones Wood Foundry, a restaurant in Manhattan, is trying to reintroduce this classic dish in the United States: the meatballs themselves are made of pork, and the bottom of the meatballs will be covered with a layer of mashed potatoes and gravy with red wine and onions - just looking at it, it is full of nostalgia.
9. American Meatballs
There's a popular myth that meatballs with pasta are a true Italian dish, but that's not the case. At least the meatball itself wasn't invented until Italian chefs immigrated to the U.S. This delicacy is made entirely of beef and is almost always served with spaghetti and Italian sauce.
But at Proof, a restaurant in the U.S. Capitol, chef Haidarkaroum takes the classic dish to the next level: spicy meatballs made from a blend of beef and pork are topped with ravioli with goat cheese and prosciutto with tomato and mozzarella.

Food & Cooking