Chinese Meat Balls with Chinese Soup

MEATBALLS:

1 pound ground beef, chuck or sirloin, lean
3/4 cup oatmeal or bread crumbs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced finely
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 egg

SOUP:

2 large cans (14 ounce) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 package (6 ounce) frozen snow pea pods
1/2 pound baby carrots, cut in half
1 1/2 cups fresh or canned bean sprouts
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2" cube fresh ginger, finely grated
1 clove garlic, finely minced
peanut or olive oil for roasting

Combine soup ingredients in large saucepan over low heat to simmer (reserve snow pea pods and carrots for broiling or stir frying).Prepare meatballs: stir ingredients together, shape into 1 1/4" meatballs and place on lightly oiled broiler pan. Spray lightly with an olive oil spray if you used very lean meat. Broil until nicely browned or bake at 400° 15 minutes.
To roast the baby carrots, cut carrots in half, lengthwise. Rub in one or 2 tablespoons of olive or peanut oil, and sprinkle between the meatballs on the broiler pan. Do the same with the thawed snow peas.
Check while broiling, and remove carrots, snow peas, and meatballs as they begin to brown. Drain on paper towels briefly and add to soup. If you wish to skip this step, you may alternatively brown the meatballs, snow peas, and carrots in a wok.
With all ingredients now in soup, simmer over low heat 15 to 20 minutes and season to taste with salt, pepper, a pinch of Chinese Red Pepper, if desired, and a dash of soy sauce.

Directions:

To make the meatballs: Heat the oven to 400.

Gently mix together the ingredients (hands are best for this), then form meatballs by rolling tablespoon-sized scoops between your palms.

Arrange on a lightly oiled or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until well-browned and cooked through. Serve with toothpicks for dipping.

To make the dipping sauce: In a small pot, stir all the ingredients together over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.

Simmer 3 or so minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens a bit.

Fish out the ginger and serve in small cups for dipping.