Fuzhou Meatball Soup (福鼎肉片汤)
These meatballs are made by scraping the filling by using a chopstick. Although the shape looks nothing like a meatball, but Fuzhou people call it meatball. I think they do make it into round balls originally but later on they find this way is a lot faster and the taste is the same. The meatball contains quite a lot of sweet potato starch so it has a unique texture, very bouncy and gelatinous.
- Prep time
- 14 min
- Cook time
- 31 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean pork shoulder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp finely ground white pepper, or to taste
- 30 g crushed ice
- 4 clove garlic
- 3 slice ginger
- 1 scallion
- 150 g cold water
- 150 g sweet potato starch
- 2 l stock (chicken, beef or vegetable)
- 2.5 tbsp ginger, thinly julienned
- 4 tbsp finely minced garlic
- 6 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, can be replaced with balsamic vinegar
- 2.5 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup diced cilantro
- 1.5 tbsp diced hot chili
- 3-4 tbsp dried baby shrimp, optional
- a handful of seaweed, optional
- 2 tbsp pork lard
- Some freshly ground white pepper, to taste
- Asian Clay Pot
Instructions
- 1
Trim off the fat and silver skin from the pork shoulder. Cut the meat into bite-size then blend with a food processor until smooth. Get the freshest meat possible and don't use pre-ground pork because the texture does not come out the same.
- 2
Season the ground pork with salt, soy sauce, sugar, baking soda, garlic powder, and freshly ground white pepper
- 3
Add crushed ice and stir the ground pork within one direction for 8 minutes. You can do this by hand or by using a standard machine. Stirring the meat will create a lot of heat, adding ice will make sure your meat stays fresh and cold.
- 4
In a blender, add garlic, ginger, scallion, and cold water. Blend this into a puree and let it go through a sieve. Mix the aromatic liquid with 150 grams of sweet potato starch thoroughly.
- 5
Add the sweet potato starch puree mixture into the meat in 3 batches and stir within one direction for 5 minutes or until the meat becomes sticky. You can do it by hand or using a stand mixer.
- 6
Add the stock to a pot and bring to a simmer. Spread the meat mixture onto a flat plate. Use a chopstick to scrape the meat into the stock little by little. Between every scrape, dip the chopstick into the stock to prevent sticking.
- 7
Bring the pot to a boil then continue to cook for 3-5 minutes.
- 8
Meanwhile, put all the ingredients to assemble the soup in a big serving bowl then pour in all the meatball soup. Taste to adjust the flavor.