Sea Cucumber Balls

Name: Sea Cucumber Balls
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Sea cucumber (rinsed in clean water to remove impurities, cut into 4 cm long, 2 cm wide diagonal strips), to taste; Bamboo shoot slices (cut into 3 cm long, 0.2 cm wide, 1 mm thick pieces), to taste; Shiitake mushrooms (sliced in half), to taste; Water chestnuts (peeled, diced small), to taste; Eggs (cracked into a bowl), to taste; 5 g Minced ginger; 5 g Chopped scallions; 1.5 g Fine salt; 1 g MSG; 25 g Wet cornstarch; White pepper, to taste; 150 g Clear water; Fish paste, to taste; Diced meat, to taste; Ground meat, to taste; Rendered pork fat (heated to 80% hot), to taste; 50 g Clear meat broth; 5 g Soy sauce; Scallion segments, to taste

A traditional Hubei specialty featuring fish meatballs as the base, topped with sea cucumber—fresh, fragrant, soft, and tender.

55 min

Easy

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Ingredients

Sea cucumber (rinsed in clean water to remove impurities, cut into 4 cm long, 2 cm wide diagonal strips) to taste

Bamboo shoot slices (cut into 3 cm long, 0.2 cm wide, 1 mm thick pieces) to taste

Shiitake mushrooms (sliced in half) to taste

Water chestnuts (peeled, diced small) to taste

Eggs (cracked into a bowl) to taste

Minced ginger 5 g

Chopped scallions 5 g

Fine salt 1.5 g

MSG 1 g

Wet cornstarch 25 g

White pepper to taste

Clear water 150 g

Fish paste to taste

Diced meat to taste

Ground meat to taste

Rendered pork fat (heated to 80% hot) to taste

Clear meat broth 50 g

Soy sauce 5 g

Scallion segments to taste

Instructions

Preparation

Rinse the sea cucumber in clean water to remove impurities, and cut into 4 cm long, 2 cm wide diagonal strips. Cut the bamboo shoot slices into 3 cm long, 0.2 cm wide, 1 mm thick pieces; halve the shiitake mushrooms. Peel the water chestnuts and dice them into small pieces.

Make the fish meat paste

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the diced water chestnuts, 5 g minced ginger, 5 g chopped scallions, 1.5 g fine salt, 1 g MSG, 25 g wet cornstarch, white pepper, 150 g clear water, fish paste, diced meat, and ground meat. Stir together until evenly mixed into a paste.

Fry the meatballs

Place a wok over high heat, add rendered pork fat and heat to 80% hot. Squeeze the fish meat paste into 1 cm diameter balls, dropping them into the wok as you form them. Fry until golden yellow, then remove and drain the oil. Place in a bowl, add 50 g clear meat broth and 5 g soy sauce, and steam over high heat for 10 minutes. When the balls puff up, remove and invert onto a plate (reserve the cooking liquid).

Braise to finish

In the original wok, add 25 g rendered pork fat and heat. Add scallion segments and minced ginger and briefly stir-fry. Add the sea cucumber, bamboo shoot slices, and shiitake mushrooms and briefly stir-fry. Pour in the clear meat broth and the reserved cooking liquid from the steamed balls and bring to a boil. Add rendered pork fat, soy sauce, fine salt, and MSG. Thicken with wet cornstarch. Drizzle a little rendered pork fat over the meatballs and serve.