White-Braised Fish Balls

Name: White-Braised Fish Balls
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 300 g sole fillet (boneless, cleaned); 5 g fine salt; 75 g pork fat; 5 g Shaoxing wine; 175 g egg white; 350 g clear chicken broth; 15 g scallion (crushed); 2 g white pepper; 10 g fresh ginger (crushed); 5 g chicken fat; 20 g baby bok choy hearts; 20 g wet cornstarch; 750 g rendered pork lard; 7 g MSG

Mince sole fillet and pork fat into a fine paste. Add egg white and other ingredients, beat until the paste is elastic and holds its shape. Form into ingot-shaped portions, blanch in hot oil, then finish by braising.

55 min

Easy

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Ingredients

sole fillet (boneless, cleaned) 300 g

fine salt 5 g

pork fat 75 g

Shaoxing wine 5 g

egg white 175 g

clear chicken broth 350 g

scallion (crushed) 15 g

white pepper 2 g

fresh ginger (crushed) 10 g

chicken fat 5 g

baby bok choy hearts 20 g

wet cornstarch 20 g

rendered pork lard 750 g

MSG 7 g

Instructions

Make the paste

Rinse the cleaned sole fillets. Using the back of a knife, separately mince the pork fat into a fine paste, then combine with the fish and mince together evenly. Crush the scallion and ginger, soak them in Shaoxing wine with a little water to make scallion-ginger wine water. Whip the egg whites to a fluffy foam.

Mix the batter

Combine the minced fish paste with the scallion-ginger wine water and a portion of the clear broth, loosening it up, then pass through a fine sieve to obtain a smooth fish puree. First stir in clear broth in one direction with chopsticks until the mixture becomes elastic and binds together, then fold in the whipped egg-white foam, fine salt, rendered pork lard, MSG, and white pepper. Set aside to use.

Shape the balls

Heat rendered pork lard in a wok to about 30-40 percent hot. Use a small soup spoon to scoop the fish paste into small oval balls and lower them gently into the oil. When the fish balls float to the surface, lift them out and blanch briefly in boiling water to rinse away any fine threads. Blanch the baby bok choy hearts in boiling water until just tender and set aside.

Braise and assemble

Place the wok back over the heat with a little rendered pork lard and sauté the crushed scallion and ginger until fragrant. Pour in the Shaoxing wine and add the remaining clear broth, season with fine salt and MSG, then slide in the fish balls and let them braise gently. Thicken the surrounding sauce for the baby bok choy hearts with wet cornstarch to a thin, rice-water gloss, drizzle in the chicken fat, and arrange the fish balls and bok choy on a serving plate.