Thai-style Meatballs in Lettuce Cups

Heat oven to 400 F. Combine the first 10 ingredients (ginger through salt) in a small bowl to make sauce. Put the ground pork in another bowl. Remove half the sauce and combine it with the ground pork. Shape the pork mixture into 1 1/2″ meatballs, about the size of golf balls. Set the remaining sauce aside.

Put the sugar in a small bowl or plate and dip each meatball into the sugar to coat. Put a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and arrange the meatballs on the paper at least an inch apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn up the heat to 425 F and bake an additional 5 minutes to caramelize the meatballs. Remove from oven.

Place the butter lettuce leaves side-by-side on a serving platter. In each leaf put one meatball, a couple pieces each of mango and cucumber and a sprinkling of cilantro and mint. Top each meatball with a teaspoon of the reserved sauce. Or toss the meatballs, lettuce, mango, cucumbers, mint and cilantro together with the sauce for a salad.