Pineapple Teriyaki Beef Meatballs

Last time I was in Hawai'i, I made the mistake of not researching what fruits I could bring back to the mainland. There's amazing tropical fruit in Hawai'i and if I could, I would have brought back every single thing I tried there. But USDA restricts most produce items to be taken out. Thankfully, pineapple is not one of them and this time when I visited, I went prepared. I bought 4 pineapple days before I flew back and we've been enjoying them with our morning yogurt since then. I kind of wanted to do something a little different with one of the pineapples, so came up with this beef meatballs in a teriyaki sauce cooked with the fruit.

This recipe is perfect for days when you want a little indulgent food, the kind of salty, sweet, sour and hot flavors that you associate with comfort food. If you want it spicier (I totally could have gone for a higher spice level), use serranos instead of jalapeños for that extra zing.

Recipe adapted from various online sources
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 bunch cilantro, bottom 3" stems finely chopped & the rest coarsely chopped (keep separate)
1 egg
1 tsp sea salt
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 tsp red chile flakes
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
4 fat garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp chile flakes
1 tbsp tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple
2 jalapeños, thinly sliced into rounds

Procedure:
First make the meatballs by sprinkling 2 tbsp water over the breadcrumbs in a medium bowl ad setting aside while you gather the ingredients. Mix in ginger, finely chopped cilantro stems, egg, salt, jalapeño and red chile flakes and mix it well. Add ground beef and mix it in and form into 16 meatballs. Heat oil in a 10" wide saucepan over high and brown meatballs for 4 minutes, turning them over often after the first two minutes. While the meatballs are browning, mix soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, chopped ginger and garlic, honey, chile flakes and tapioca starch in another bowl and pour it over the meatballs once they're well browned and add the pineapple. Reduce heat to low and scrape stuff from the bottom of the saucepan. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes till the meatballs are done and the sauce has become thick and formed a glaze over the meatballs. Sprinkle the rest of the chopped cilantro and sliced jalapeño and serve with steamed rice.