Jamaican Jerk Sauce + Jerk Meatballs
PHOTOS + VIDEO BY MARIA MIGUEL + BIBIANA NUNES
One of the easiest ways to stay connected to my Jamaican culture growing up was the FOOD. The spicy, smokey flavor of Jerk is one of Jamaica’s biggest claims to fame. I love making my own jerk sauce so that I can have those flavors anytime, anywhere.
I developed this recipe while living in Jamaica and running a B&B out of my family's home. I'd go through batches of this sauce like crazy. It works as a marinade (of course) but I’d also tweak it to become a dipping sauce for just about everything and a flavor component for brand new dishes. One of my favorite ways to use it would be in these jerk meatballs.
jerk sauce
3 cups scallion, rough chopped
1 cup onion, rough chopped
10 cloves garlic, smashed
5 scotch bonnet peppers, whole w/seeds - just want flavor w/out the heat? use 1 seeded pepper
1 inch ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons Thyme leaves
2 tablespoons salt
⅓ cup sugar, raw
1 tablespoon pepper, whole
3 tablespoons allspice, whole
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons soy sauce (for gluten free, use gf soy sauce or liquid aminos)
¼ cup lime juice
1 tablespoons rice vinegar
¼ cup neutral oil
Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until liquified.
JERK MEATBALLS
Makes about 20 meatballs
1 pound ground pork
4 large or 6 small scallions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
⅓ cup jerk sauce
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
Oil for pan frying
Place the meat in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the next 8 ingredients to combine thoroughly.
Pour the seasoning mixture onto the meat and combine with your hands or a fork.
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to set up. It may seem loose but don’t worry! The cornstarch and egg will bind everything together and chilling in the fridge will firm up the texture.
Use a teaspoon to portion the meatballs and, with your hands, form them into 1 ½ to 2-inch balls. You should end up with ~20.
Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large skillet set to medium.
Add the meatballs to the skillet and brown on all sides. Don’t move too quickly or over crowd your pan, you want a crispy brown exterior. Work in batches if you need to. This will take about 10 minutes per batch.
Transfer the meatballs to a paper towel to drain.
