Hawaiian Moink Balls with Hoisin Glaze

Have you ever heard of moink balls? I heard about them two years ago while tailgating on the Quad at Alabama. They are very similar to the Candied Bacon-Wrapped Smoked Sausages with BBQ Sauce that I made at the beginning of this month. Basically a moink ball is a bacon wrapped meatball, and the glory of it is that you can make your own meatball or just find something store-bought. Also, you can make all different kinds of flavors for these moink balls. I decided to make Hoisin Glazed-Hawaiian Moink Balls with pineapple and red onion. Other flavors I want to make are buffalo chicken, BBQ, and thai. This is a great make-ahead appetizer that you could also easily serve at a party as well. Enjoy :)

Hawaiian Meatballs with Pineapple, Wrapped in Bacon, Glazed in Hoisin Sauce

Hawaiian Moink Balls with Hoisin Glaze

For the Moink Balls:

1 Slice of White Sandwich Bread

1 ½T Milk

1t Soy Sauce

½C Red Onions, Finely Chopped

1 ¼lbs Ground Pork

½C Panko Breadcrumbs 

3 Cloves of Garlic, Finely Grated

1T Ginger, Finely Grated

½C Crushed Pineapple (drained of excess juice)

1 Large Egg, Lightly Beaten

1t Toasted Sesame Oil

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Vegetable Oil, For Frying

20 Pineapple Chunks

10 Slices of Bacon, Cut in Half

Toothpicks, For Securing & Serving

¼C Brown Sugar

Hoisin or Teriyaki Sauce, For Glazing  

Directions:

1. To Make the Hawaiian Meatballs: Tear the sandwich bread into small pieces, and then toss with the milk and soy sauce in a large bowl, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add the red onions, ground pork, panko breadcrumbs, garlic, ginger, crushed pineapple, egg, sesame oil, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.  Gently form the ground mixture into 16 golf ball-size meatballs. Put the meatballs on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the meatballs until browned and almost cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain until they have cooled completely.

2. To Make the Hawaiian Moink Balls: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with Pam, and then set aside. While the oven is preheating, assemble the moink balls. Grab a cooled, cooked Hawaiian meatball, and top it with 1 pineapple chunk, wrap it with a slice of bacon, and then stick a toothpick through the center to hold all of the components together. Place the finished wrapped moink balls onto the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle them with a little bit of brown sugar.

3. To Cook the Hawaiian Moink Balls: Bake the moink balls for 20 minutes and then flip them over and cook for another 20 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of baking begin glazing them with hoisin or teriyaki sauce, so that they will caramelize while baking.