Having a ball with meatballs

Editor's note: Traditional and fusion cooking styles, regional and international ingredients and a new awareness of healthy eating are all factors contributing to an exciting time for Chinese cuisine. We explore the possibilities.

Meatballs are family favorites all over the world, but only the Chinese are so obsessed that they make "meatballs" with anything they can lay their hands on - beef, pork, fish, prawn, squid, mushroom and even tofu.

In a cuisine that boasts 5,000 years of history, the evolution of the Chinese meatball has been inevitable. What surprises food historians is that, compared with the Western version, which has stayed true to the original recipe throughout centuries, the Chinese meatball comes in all sizes, flavors and textures.

Texture is especially important. The bounce is the thing, and a good fish meatball or a beef ball must have a springy bite and the potential to bounce off the wall.

Most meatballs are produced as a result of the inherent frugality of the Chinese cook. In coastal villages where fishing is the main livelihood, the remnants of the catch left unsold are often brought home by the fishermen.

Here, the fish are scaled, skinned and every bit of meat scraped off with the back of a knife or spoon. The meat is then finely minced and beaten in one direction until the natural collagens combine and stick. Heavily saturated saltwater is sprinkled on the meat as it is vigorously worked, a technique that both tightens the texture and flavors the meat. The resulting paste is then squeezed between thumb and index finger into smooth balls that are dropped into cold water, or cooked in boiling water.

Fish balls are sold either raw, soaked in light brine or cooked. They are popular served with noodles or deep-fried as snacks. In Hong Kong, the popular cart noodles serve up fish balls in curry sauce.

Prawns, squid and crabmeat are also pounded into similar meatballs. Seafood meatballs have become immensely popular all over the country, especially as part of platters assembled for steamboats or hotpots.

Seafood meatballs need the stickiness of fish paste to be efficiently shaped. Sometimes flying fish roe is added to the paste for an effect that's very much like popping candy.

In Chaoshan, there is the signature beef ball that squirts juices at the unsuspecting. It is a bouncy meatball that is literally hammered into a paste.

A huge slab of lean beef is carefully trimmed to an even thickness, with all visible tendons and fibers painstakingly removed. The prepared beef is laid flat on an immense chopping board. The chef gets comfortable with an almost martial art-like stance and starts hitting the meat with a long, thick rolling pin in each hand.

The rhythmic pounding will go on for an hour or so, and the meat turns to paste underneath the pins. At the right moment, the chef may stop for a sprinkle of brine and a dusting of sweet potato starch.

These are the plain beef balls. Pure beef. There are other variations, like tendon meatballs made with the trimmed-off sections, and a filled meatball with finely pulverized meat mixed with melted beef fat.

The beef balls are extremely juicy, and the filled version will splatter the careless diner with a burst of beef fat and juices at first bite.

In contrast, meatballs made with pork emphasize the natural flavor and texture of the meat. From the tiny meatballs blanched in Cantonese porridge to the delicately hand-cut lion's head meatball from Nanjing, pork meatballs are never overprocessed.

Instead, the chef chooses a cut that has equal amounts of fat and muscle, even a bit of gelatinous skin, preferring to let the meat speak for itself.

Cantonese meatballs mostly use a ratio of 70:30 minced lean to fat for the best mouth feel. Chefs may also add finely diced pickled vegetables for a bit of crunch. They are mostly cooked in soup or blanched in piping hot, silky smooth rice congee.

The Nanjing lion's head meatball, shizitou, on the other hand uses the best pork belly strips. These are hand-cut into slices and then into thin julienne before being diced. The reason for this fastidious process is to ensure that every morsel of pork has the proper proportion of fat and lean.

The cut meat is then stirred in one direction until it clumps. The chef will then shape each huge meatball into a perfect globe and steam it gently in a rich broth. The meatball is then served on a bed of Shanghai cabbage and the thickened stock drizzled over it.

A well-made lion's head will hold its shape until the first chopsticks touch it, upon which it will fall apart, exposing its tender heart.

In the northern provinces, meatballs are a festive dish. Sixiwanzi, four balls of happiness, are served at birthdays, weddings and the reunion meal on the eve of Spring Festival. It is made like the lion's head, but with a minced mixture.

The meatballs are formed, and then deep-fried for color. They are then steamed until they are completely cooked. A rich brown gravy flavored with star anise and cinnamon completes the dish, a testimony to the stronger flavors preferred by northern palates.

Whatever the size or ingredient, the meatball is an easy staple for the home dining table. It may be pure meat, or it may have fillers such as mushrooms, tofu or a mirepoix. The only limit is the chef's imagination.

paulined@chinadaily.com.cn

Recipe

Meatless meatballs

1 block of Chinese tofu

2 large dried Chinese or shiitake mushrooms, soaked

1 tablespoon finely diced carrots

1 tablespoon finely diced celery stems

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1 heaped tablespoon potato or corn starch

(Water chestnut or lotus root starch can be substituted for added fragrance)

Salt and pepper

Take the tofu from its package and place under a large plate with a heavy weight on top. Allow the water to flow until the tofu is relatively dry.

Remove the stems of the dried mushrooms and finely dice.

Mix the diced vegetables into the crushed tofu. Break up the tofu so there are no large clumps. Add the beaten egg white and the starch and blend the mixture well. Season with salt and pepper.

Use a spoon to shape balls. You may steam or deep-fry them.

Arrange the balls on a large plate and steam for 10 minutes.

To deep-fry, drop the balls into 170 C or medium hot oil and fry till they turn golden brown.

Winter melon and meatball soup

350g pork belly mince

100g Sichuan pickled vegetables, zhacai

1 teaspoon corn flour

A pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper

500g winter melon, peeled and cored

Slice of ginger

Coriander leaves, for garnish

Cut the winter melon into large chunks.

Dice up the pickled vegetable and add to the minced meat with a pinch of sugar and the corn flour. Briskly stir the mixture in one direction.

Heat up a pot of water to boiling and add the winter melon chunks and ginger. Allow to boil till the melon chunks turn translucent.

Drop the meatballs directly into the boiling soup, keeping it bubbling as you add all the meatballs. Once the meatballs float, they're cooked.

Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and garnish with coriander.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/24/2018 page18)