Braised pork meat balls 四喜丸子
Braised Pork Balls in Gravy (四喜丸子) is one of the classic traditional dishes of Chinese cuisine, originating from the Shandong (鲁) culinary branch. The dish consists of four beautifully crafted meatballs, each boasting an excellent balance of colour, aroma, and flavour. These four meatballs symbolize four major life blessings: happiness, prosperity, longevity, and joy. Traditionally served as a centrepiece at celebratory banquets like weddings and birthdays, the dish carries auspicious meanings, making it a perfect representation of good fortune and celebration in Chinese culture. There are many different recipes, we have chosen a simple version of it.
Ingredients
- 250g minced meat
- 50g minced bamboo shoots (if you cannot find bamboo shoots, you can use onions instead)
- 2g ground white pepper
- 3 g salt
- 10g sugar
- 25g chive & ginger water (water soaked with chive/leek and ginger for around 30 mins)
- 1 star anise
- 5g chopped chive
- 5g ginger slices
- 15 g corn starch
- 30g light soy sauce
- 15g dark soy sauce
- 50g caster sugar
Instructions
- Mix the minced meat, minced bamboo shoots, white pepper, salt, sugar, chive & ginger water and corn starch together, mix well
- Divide the mixture into four parts and knead into 4 balls.
- Put enough oil in the pot, turn on medium heat for 15 seconds, fry the meatballs for 4 minutes, and then remove them from the pan.
- In the same pan, add small amount of oil, stir-fry star anise, scallion and ginger slices, add light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, then add 200ml of water to boil, followed by the meatballs.
- Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, mix the corn starch with some water until fully dissolved, pour into the pan to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat to serve.