Four Joy Meatballs
Four Joy Meatballs: a classic Shandong (Lu) cuisine dish made by combining ground pork with a variety of ingredients, frying the mixture, steaming it to perfection, and finishing with a drizzle of clear, glossy starch glaze.
Ingredients
Pork filling
400g
Diced pork
100g
Shrimp
30g
Diced bamboo shoots
30g
Diced sea cucumber
30g
Vegetable oil
750g (approx. 100g used)
Soy sauce
25g
Sweet bean sauce
20g
Cooking wine
15g
Salt
3g
MSG
5g
Minced scallion
2g
Minced ginger
2g
Sesame oil
5g
Beaten egg
150g
Flour
50g
Scallion segments
3g
Sliced ginger
3g
Star anise
3g
Broth
500g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Combine the pork filling, diced pork, shrimp, diced bamboo shoots, and diced sea cucumber. Add soy sauce, sweet bean sauce, cooking wine, salt, MSG, minced scallion, and sesame oil, mix well, then shape into large meatballs. Mix the beaten egg with flour to form a batter.
2
Step 2
Heat oil in a pot to medium heat (about 50% hot), coat the meatballs with the egg-flour batter, fry in the pot until firm, then remove.
3
Step 3
Place the meatballs in a container, add soy sauce, broth, salt, scallion segments, sliced ginger, and star anise, then steam for about 20 minutes. Remove the scallion segments, sliced ginger, and star anise. Pour the reserved cooking liquid into a pot, bring to a boil, add water starch to thicken the sauce, then pour the sauce over the meatballs before serving.
