Ingredients
- ***Meatballs***
- 1200g Pork (60/40 ratio meat/fat)
- 3 Spring Onions
- 45g Fresh ginger – peeled
- 50g Cornstarch
- 3 Small Eggs
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- *** Braising Stock***
- 4 ltr water
- 2 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp Salt
- 80g Sugar (white)
- ***Serving ***
- 1/2 Chinese/Napa Cabbage
- 2 bunches of Bok Choy
- Sesame Seeds
Method
- ***Meat Balls***
- - We are looking at a 60/40 (meat-to-fat ratio) with the pork. In my case, I have used a 1200g pork loin roast to easily separate the fat cap from the meat to give me 720g meat & 480g fat. Cube both the fat and meat and place on a tray in the freezer to assist in firming up before grinding.
- - After pork has firmed up, using a mincer/grinder, mince pork and fat together on a course grinding plate. Mince the second time on a finer plate. Place pork in fridge to keep cool until final mixing.
- - In a small blender, place the ginger, spring onions and 1 cup of cold water and blend until smooth. Strain to remove just the water. Mix 50g of this flavoured water with 50g Cornstarch to make a slurry.
- - In a suitable sized stand mixer bowl, add the grinded pork, ginger & spring onion slurry (give a little remix) along with remaining meat ball ingredients (eggs, Salt, pepper, soy sauce & cooking wine). Mix on a low speed until all ingredients are combined well and to the point where the mixture becomes sticky. Using a stand mixer replicates the single direction motion to help breakdown and re-establish the proteins as one.
- - After the mixing, start by grabbing handfuls of the mince mixture and slapping down back to the inside of a bowl. Repeat enough times until you would have gone through entire mixture at least twice. This will help to mixture become uniform, reduce and air pockets and ensure the meatballs remain together while cooking.
- - Weigh the total amount of mixture & divide by 8 (allows for consistent cooking to make 8 meat balls). Grab your meatball amount and round with hands before placing on a tray lined with baking paper. Place your tray with the 8 meatballs back to the refrigerator to keep cool. Meanwhile, heat up about 3” to 4” of vegetable in a wok till around 180 degrees. Remove meatballs from refrigerator and fry in batches of 3 or 4 until just golden brown (about 3 mins per batch). Once fried, place on a cooling rack to drain/rest while completing remaining meatballs.
- ***Poaching***
- - In a large saucepan, place all “Braising Stock” ingredients and bring to a boil.
- - Once boiling, lower heat to low and add meatballs together with full length Napa cabbage leaves. Try to place leaves between the meatballs to avoid any potential clashing which could cause them to break apart. Return to high heat to bring back to boil before then lowering the heat to the lowest possible temperature, cover and simmer for 4 hours. PLEASE do not skimp on this poaching time as it is imperative for the most soft/delicate meatball you will ever have.
- - At the end, remove meatballs and cabbage and use the same poaching liquid to blanch the Bok Choy (approx.. 2 to 3 minutes).
- ***Plating***
- - In your preferred serving dish, I prefer to add the poached cabbage on the bottom followed by the meatballs.
- - Ladle over the poaching liquid before swirling some of the blanched Bok Choy between the meatballs with a light sprinkle of sesame seeds.
- - Enjoy!
Product used in recipe
- LEE KUM KEE - LKK PREMIUM DARK SOY SAUCE 250ML
- LEE KUM KEE - LKK GOLD LABEL SOY SAUCE 500ML
- LEE KUM KEE - LKK CHICKEN BOUILLON POWDER 227G
