Braised Meatballs
Braised meatballs are a classic Shanghai-style dish made from ground pork with a three-to-seven fat-to-lean ratio, simmered with green peppers until tender and juicy.
Ingredients
Pork (70% lean, 30% fat, minced)
300g
Green pepper (washed, stem removed, cut into 1cm diamond-shaped pieces)
50g
Salt (about 1g used for marinating the meat)
4g
Soy sauce (about 2g used for marinating the meat)
10g
Cooking wine (about 1g used for marinating the meat)
5g
MSG
3g
Sugar
5g
Vinegar
2g
Scallion (finely chopped)
5g
Ginger (finely chopped)
5g
Oil (about 20g for stir-frying, the rest for deep-frying the meatballs)
250g
Starch (part for marinating the meat, the rest for thickening)
5g
Egg (for binding the meat mixture)
1
Water (for braising)
300g
Instructions
1
Prepare the meat mixture
Wash the green peppers, remove the stems, and cut them into 1cm diamond-shaped pieces. Finely chop the scallion and ginger. Mince the pork (70% lean, 30% fat), then add the egg, 1g salt, 2g soy sauce, 1g cooking wine, and 3g starch. Stir continuously in a clockwise direction until evenly mixed, then set aside.
2
Deep-fry the meatballs
Heat oil in a wok to about 150–180°C (medium-hot). Using your hands, shape the meat mixture into walnut-sized balls, place them in the oil, and fry until they hold their shape, then remove.
3
Braise and reduce the sauce
Add 20g of oil to the wok, briefly stir-fry the chopped scallion and ginger, then add the cooking wine, soy sauce, 300g of water, and the sugar. Once it comes to a boil, add the meatballs and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the green pepper pieces, dissolve the remaining starch in water and pour it into the wok, reduce the sauce until thickened, then transfer to a plate and serve.
