Red-Braised Meatballs
Light red in color, soft and fluffy in texture, with a savory, aromatic flavor.
Ingredients
ground pork (fat and lean)
500 g
cooking wine
100 g
ginger (minced)
50 g
scallion
50 g
salt
2 g
monosodium glutamate
3 g
soy sauce
25 g
egg
2
cornstarch
to taste
star anise
to taste
cassia bark
to taste
stock
to taste
cooking oil
75 g
Instructions
1
Make the filling
Combine the ground pork with the cooking wine, minced ginger, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce, salt, eggs, and cornstarch, and mix until evenly blended (a small amount of stock may be added).
2
Fry the meatballs
Heat oil in a wok to about 50–60% hot. Form the meat mixture into 8 flat, round meatballs and slip them into the oil. Fry briefly just until the surface firms up, then remove and drain.
3
Braise and thicken the sauce
Leave a thin layer of oil in the pan, add the star anise, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the soy sauce, cooking wine, stock, and cassia bark, then add the fried meatballs and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam, reduce to a gentle fire, and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through. Transfer the meatballs to a serving plate. Bring the sauce in the pan back to a boil, thicken with a cornstarch slurry, drizzle with a little hot oil, and pour over the meatballs to finish.
