Dongjiang Fish Balls
Hakka-style fish balls made by scraping dace meat into a fine paste and gently cooking until tender and silky.
Ingredients
Dace fish meat (descale, gut, remove innards, take out the backbone, and scrape off the flesh once cooled)
500 g
Clean water (use river water; avoid sulfurous water)
100 g (for mixing with meat) + 100 g (for beating the paste)
MSG (gourmet powder)
10 g
Egg whites
2
Refined salt
20 g
Lard
100 g
Instructions
1
Preparing the fish meat
Descale, gut, and clean the fresh dace fish, then remove the backbone. Once the meat has cooled, use a sharp knife to scrape off the flesh.
2
Mincing the fish paste
Choose a flat cutting board and place the scraped meat on it. Add 100 g of clean water and chop slowly until the fish meat rises and takes on a mirror-like sheen. Then scrape off the smoothest top layer onto a plate or bowl, and continue the chopping and scraping process. Discard the final remaining layer.
3
Beating the fish paste
Place the minced fish meat in a deep dish. Add 100 g of clean water, 10 g of MSG, and 2 egg whites, and stir well with the water. Add 20 g of refined salt and beat into a fish paste, then add 100 g of lard and mix evenly.
4
Shaping and cooking
Shape into balls by hand, each weighing about 20 to 25 g. Place them in a pot of cold water and poach gently over low heat until cooked (when the balls float to the surface).
5
Serving and variations
When serving, add chicken soup and seasonal vegetables to make 'soup fish balls'. Alternatively, chopped ingredients such as prawns, duck gizzards, dried conpoy, and ham can be mixed into the fish paste and shaped into balls, known as 'Baihua fish balls' (hundred-flower fish balls).
