During the Chinese New Year, the power of this thing is second only to the sugar orange →

Meatballs, also called dumplings, represent perfection in the eyes of the Chinese.

As the Spring Festival approaches, many families will start preparing for the essential process of the New Year - fried meatballs. Fry a large pot full of them, which is quite spectacular. Fry one in the pot and eat one next to it. Even when your stomach is full, you still want to stuff another one - the power of fried meatballs during the New Year is second only to sugar oranges .

Fried meatballs

Can be eaten directly or used as a dish

Fried meatballs can be either meat or vegetarian, and can be eaten directly or cooked. Meat meatballs are mostly pork meatballs, while vegetarian meatballs are often vegetable meatballs, tofu meatballs, glutinous rice meatballs, and sweet potato meatballs.

At the grocery stalls in northern vegetable markets, fried meatballs are mostly made of carrots .

The fried meatballs should be small, otherwise they will either not be fried thoroughly or overcooked. Fry them until they are 70% to 80% done, let them dry for a while, and then fry them again. You will get a pot of small meatballs that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Take a bag home and eat them with pepper salt while they are just out of the pot.

Fried vegetarian meatballs | Image from Douguo Food @ Hour Kitchen

Dry-fried meatballs in Shandong cuisine are very popular in North China.

The dry fried meatballs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and they are fried with a spoon. The meat is made from the tip of the hindquarters, which is 30% fat and 70% lean. The unique feature is the addition of yellow bean paste for seasoning, and the meat filling is made with scallion and ginger water. After the hard shell is formed after the first frying, it is fished out and patted with a spoon to make small cracks , and then fried again to fry out the heat inside, so that a dry, crisp, crunchy, tender and fragrant meatball can be achieved.

Fried meatballs | flickr Wu Xiaoxian1223

There are three ways to eat it: dip it in garlic sauce, dip it in tiger sauce (a mixture of mashed garlic, dry yellow sauce and sesame oil), and dip it in pepper salt. Pepper salt is the most traditional and common way.

Fried meatballs with 3 kinds of dipping sauces | flickr Haonan Xu

When celebrating the Spring Festival, Hefei people cannot do without a bowl of glutinous rice balls. Mix the pork filling with cooked glutinous rice, roll it into balls, and fry them in a pan. Fry a lot at a time, and then process them when eating . There are many ways to eat them, such as frying, cooking with noodles, and steaming. That is the deepest taste of the Spring Festival in the memory of Hefei people.

Glutinous rice balls | Douguo Food @NoNuoNuoON

Jinan's famous fried meatballs in soup look ordinary on the outside, but once the skin is broken, the juice bursts out instantly. Foods in soup always give people a pleasant surprise. The meatballs are wrapped with broth jelly, and after high-temperature frying , the pork jelly inside melts, the meatballs are golden and crispy on the outside, and the soup inside is hot and fresh, but be careful not to burn your mouth.

After frying, the meatballs are also suitable for secondary processing and become a delicious dish.

The Four Happiness Meatballs are said to represent the four joyful events of happiness, wealth, longevity and good fortune. They are a staple dish for northerners during weddings and festivals.

The filling is made of 30% fat and 70% lean pork ribs, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and starch, rolled into four balls, deep-fried and steamed, and finally poured with the original soup sauce . The meat aroma is mixed with the freshness of vegetarian dishes, and the soft meat filling is mixed with crispy bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. It is a combination of meat and vegetables, soft and crisp, and a change from the old style, which makes people enjoy it.

Four-joy meatballs | Image from Douguo Food @Scarlett

The ingredients are fried first, then mixed with a thick sauce. Dishes cooked in the "stir-fry" method are usually crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, or smooth and tender, with a stronger flavor. Bamboo shoots, cucumbers and black fungus are stir-fried, and then the broth and seasonings are added to make a fragrant and smooth sauce. The fried meatballs are added and stir-fried. The crispy and tender meatballs are thick and soft.

Fried meatballs｜Picture from Douguo Food@Liyu

In Xinjiang, beef bone soup is used as the base, and fried meatballs, beef, frozen tofu, vegetables, fungus, sweet potato vermicelli and other ingredients are stewed in a pot . Brightly colored chili oil is added and eaten while it is steaming hot. It is enough to dispel the cold winter in the northwest.

Meatball Soup | Photo by Chris

Boiled and couscous meatballs

Fresh and tender taste, original flavor

In addition to frying, steaming and boiling can make the meatballs tender and retain their original flavor.

Fuzhou fish balls are made from eels, grass carps or silver carps. After the fish are skinned and deboned, they are minced and then made into fish ball paste with sweet potato starch. There are many types of fish balls, but the uniqueness of Fuzhou fish balls is that they are stuffed with pork. The freshness of land meets the freshness of water , creating a beautiful spark.

Fuzhou fish balls stuffed with pork | Photo by Jerez S

However, the Fuzhou fish balls are big, about half the size of a fist . If you want to try it, I suggest you just order one. You really can’t eat more than that.

Fuzhou fish balls are very big, and one is enough for you to eat. | Photo by Jerez S

“It bounces high when thrown on the ground, it is purely handmade”, Chaoshan people have conquered diners from all over the world with their hand-made beef balls .

The scene of pounding beef balls is full of the spirit of the underworld. The strong young man holds a big stick and beats the whole piece of raw beef vigorously, with great momentum and heroic spirit. After the seasoned meat paste is stirred, it is continued to be beaten, and finally the squeezed meatballs are shaped in warm water. The beef balls made in this way are chewy and tough, giving the lips and teeth a crisp and smooth attack.

The standard way to eat beef balls is beef rice noodle soup . The round beef balls float in the fragrant beef soup, and the white and tender rice noodles are picked up. Pick up a beef ball, fresh, tough and juicy, wild and pure. When eating Chaoshan beef hot pot , a plate of beef balls is also indispensable. The tender beef balls are best eaten with local shacha sauce.

Beef Kway Teow | Photo by Lin

The Huaiyang cuisine, which originated in Huai'an and Yangzhou, is exquisite, dignified and elegant. Lion's head dish is as popular as Yangzhou fried rice, and clear stewed crab meat lion's head dish is the main dish of state banquets.

The pork with 30% fat and 70% lean meat, river shrimp and hairy crab roe are made into huge meatballs, covered with vegetable leaves in the broth, and simmered for several hours. When the lion's head is cooked to perfection, the fat in the meatballs is leached out, and the flavors of the ingredients are infiltrated and blended. Such lion's head is as tender as tofu , and cannot be picked up with chopsticks, but must be eaten with a soup spoon. The meat is fresh and the crab is fat but not greasy, it melts in the mouth, the soup is thick and the vegetables are refreshing.

In Shaoyang, Hunan, pig blood meatballs are the flavor of the Chinese New Year and the longing of wanderers.

Use freshly beaten hot tofu as the raw material, mix with pig blood and fat and lean meat, add chili powder and other seasonings, and then smoke after sun drying. The finished pig blood meatballs can be boiled or fried, stir-fried with chili, stir-fried with bacon, or put into hot pot. In the boiling hot pot, the small pieces of fat in the meatballs have already melted and are full of soup. You can hear a crisp sound when you bite it, and the salty and rich taste is just right.

Spicy Pig Blood Meatballs | Image from Douguo Food @Ran Cheng

No Hubei person can resist pearl dumplings . Chop the pork into minced meat and knead it into dumplings, then evenly coat it with glutinous rice and steam it. Sharp teeth pierce through the crystal-clear and soft glutinous rice, allowing the tongue to meet the fragrant meat flavor. Finally, the glutinous rice and pork blend together in the mouth, sending the salty, meaty and rice aromas to the stomach, allowing the brain to release happy dopamine.

Pearl dumplings | Image from Douguo Food @peddingcell

The main ingredients of the meatballs in Longyou, Quzhou are sweet potato flour, with a little pork and tofu. If you like, you can also add some taro or shredded radish . The dough is pulled into round balls and placed in the steamer one by one . After steaming, sprinkle with chopped green onions. It tastes soft and chewy, with the fragrance of taro and the deliciousness of pork. It can be said to be glutinous, fragrant and smooth.

Meatballs | Image from Douguo Food @尘尘波波

Home- cooked meatballs can be made with either meat or vegetables, such as pork meatballs with a good balance of fat and lean meat, fresh and tender fish meatballs, white and smooth chicken meatballs, fragrant shepherd's purse meatballs... You can also put some fresh vegetables in the soup. A bowl of meatballs is delicious, the soup is light, and there is no overly complicated seasoning, just enough to taste the original flavor of the ingredients.

Winter melon meatball soup | Image from Douguo Food @meggy Dancing Apple

A meatball is rich in the essence of Chinese cooking skills - the crispy dry-fried meatballs from North China, the mellow crab meatballs from Jiangnan, the salty and thick pig blood meatballs from Hunan, the hand-made beef meatballs from Chaoshan... A small meatball also contains everyone's good wishes - reunion and perfection in everything.

Planning and production

Source: Food_Lab

Editor: Zhong Yanping