Chinese Cuisine

Chinese Cuisine

Chinese Style Fried Meatball

When I was a kid, I would often go to my mother while she was frying meatballs to sneak in a few bites of that savoury meat packed full of flavour from the marinate and vegetables. It brought me a sense of comfort, a sense of home. Even to this day, this dish holds a certain nostalgic appeal to me and for a moment whenever I would take a bite of this, it would feel as though I were a kid again; in that kitchen picking off my mother’s freshly cooked food by her side.

Ingredients

725g minced pork
230g minced prawn
1 minced red onion
30g chopped spring onion
100g grated carrots
2 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs mushroom powder
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp five spice powder
2.5 tsp sugar
white pepper to taste
65g beaten egg
3 tbs potato starch

Method

Mix everything together until it become pasty. Chill for an hour or two.
Shape the mixture into round balls. Then set aside.
In a heated wok at medium high heat. Add enough oil for deep frying. Ensure that oil is hot enough before slowly adding in the balls. Use a wooden chopstick to test if the water is hot enough, bubbles surrounding the chopsticks signifies that the oil is ready to be used. Add in the meatballs gently, avoid overcrowding the wok. fry 5-6 balls at a time. Fry until golden brown. Dish it out using a strainer, set aside on a kitchen towel or drip pan. Do the same for the rest of the meatball. Turn down the heat a little if the meatballs are turning brown too fast. Serve hot.

Fermented Bean Curd Fried Pork Belly

There is a dish sold at the Zi Char near my place that we really like. It is called “Fermented Beancurd Pork Belly”. Unlike other restaurants that coat the whole pork belly with the fermented beancurd sauce first before frying and then slicing, this stall actually coats and fry each individual bit of pork belly, ensuring that each piece is truly packed with flavour. They also sell it with some smashed fried garlic alongside which helps with the taste. I think I will take a photo of it next time so that I could attach it here and show it to everyone. 🙂

Ingredients

1kg pork belly (remove the skin , then slice it into bite sized pieces)
1 whole garlic (together with skin , smash it with your knife)

Marinate

6 pieces of red fermented bean curd
1 tbs oyster sauce
3 tsp sugar
2 tbs light soy sauce (Jiang Qing)
1 tsp sesame oil

Method (Marinate)

Mash the bean curd and mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Marinate the pork and cover . Set aside in the chiller for at least 2 hours

Ingredients (for frying )

2 eggs (52 g each , well beaten)
3/4 cup potato starch

Method (frying)

Add in 2 beaten eggs (about 52g each), mix it well into the pork. followed by the potato starch . Mix well until no starch is visibly seen
Heat up the frying pan with enough oil at medium high heat. Add in garlic, fry until golden brown and dish out. Do note that you can only add in the ingredients when the oil is hot enough. Use a wooden chopstick to test. Bubbles surrounding the wooden chopstick signifies that the oil is ready for frying.
Add in the pork and fry until cooked through. Do note not to overcrowd the pan as it will drop the oil temperature significantly. For me, I only put 6-7 pieces at a time. This will depend on how big your frying pan is, and how much oil you put . Use your own judgement to gauge. If your meat is browning too fast, turn down the heat a little bit. Fry until reddish brown. It would not be golden because we use a red bean curd to marinate. Place the fried pieces on a tray lined with paper towel. Do the same with the rest of the pork. Transfer to a dish, add in all the fried garlic and serve.