Asian Pork Meatballs

Dipping a Chinese meatball into a bowl of spicy mayo,

5 from 31 votes

This delicious Asian Pork Meatballs recipe makes it so easy to whip up a weekday dinner. The meatballs are so versatile, you can pan-fry them, cook them in soup, or add them to a tomato pasta sauce!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese

Servings: meatballs

Calories: 41kcal

Author: Zen

Equipment

Large bowl
Wok/ pan or skillet & heat-proof sptaula

Ingredients

8.8 oz Ground pork (250g) Fresh or frozen mince work. Just thaw the frozen meat in the fridge overnight first. Ideally with 20% fat for the best texture.
10 water chestnuts minced. This gives the meatballs some crunch.
2 dried shiitake mushrooms Soaked for 1-2 hours till soft, then remove the stem (which can be added to stews and soups along with the mushroom soaking water.) Mince the cap of the mushroom for the meatballs. OK to omit if you don't have these (I don't always include them.)
1 onion peeled and minced

Seasoning

1 Tablespoon shaoxing wine Or dry sherry or 1 of these rice wine substitutes
1 Tablespoon light soy sauce
½ Tablespoon cornstarch Substitute: all purpose flour (Yes, I have tested making them with both types of flour!) (Corn starch is also known as corn flour in Asia but in the US, they're 2 different things.)
½ teaspoon white sugar
½ teaspoon salt Or to taste (To test the seasoning, pinch a small part of the seasoned, mince, fry till cooked, taste and adjust.) I also like to use dried shrimps, which add umami, as a substitute for the salt if I have them on hand. (Don't add the shrimps and salt simultaneously as the meatballs may be too salty because dried shrimp already contain salt.)
1 pinch white pepper optional

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients in 1 direction till the meat has broken down and become sticky.
Note: I find using my hands- you can wear gloves- helps me work more efficiently.
Divide the meat mixture into 20 balls of approximately the same size.
Note: No need to be obsessive but you can use a tablespoon to help you get more equal sizes.
Roll each porkball in between your hands till they've formed a nice round ball.
You can pan-fry the Asian meatballs over medium heat. Leave them untouched till the bottoms have turned brown- about 2 to 3 minutes- turn them and pan-fry to the other side.
Note: make sure there's space in between each ball. You'll probably need to cook in batches.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Other cooking methods: for more juicy meatballs, you can boil them in chicken stock to make soup. (Both uncooked or pan-fried meatballs work.)

I also like to simmer the Chinese pork meatballs in a carrot and tomato sauce when I want to increase my veggie intake. You get very tender meatballs this way!

Storage: The uncooked meatballs can be frozen or kept in the fridge for 1-2 days before cooking (as long as it's not past the expiry date of the meat AND the meat was not sitting out at room temperature for a long time!)

Cooked meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Reheating: I like to steam them, but you can also cook them again in soup or tomato sauce. This will help to ensure the reheated meatballs are still tender.

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its accuracy.

Nutrition