【Jinhua】radish meatballs

Overview

Jinhua meatballs are a traditional specialty dish in Jinhua, Zhejiang. In Jinhua, every family must make a plate of radish meatballs every New Year and festival. The round shape of the radish and meat balls contains the meaning of reunion and peace. Legend: In the past, we used to grow delicious white radish in Panqian Village (a place name) in Beishan, Jinhua. However, one year, a foreign evil dragon caused a flash flood and rainstorm, which scraped away all the fertile soil in Beishan. The radishes that were planted never grew larger and became shriveled and stringy. When Wong Tai Sin, who was at the Taoist Temple in Beishan, learned about this, he used the art of blowing ashes to fertilize the soil. The villagers then planted radishes, and each one grew big, white, crisp, tender and juicy. So the people used the radishes to make various delicacies to thank Wong Tai Sin, and radish meatballs were one of them, so it became a dietary custom for us Jinhua people. For radish and meatballs, the ratio of several main ingredients has long been agreed upon: 2 parts of radish, 1 part of diced meat, and 1 part of sweet potato starch. More radish will make it astringent, more diced meat will make it mushy, and more sweet potato starch will make it sticky. Put them on the steamer one by one; the steam dissipates, and the radish meatballs neatly arranged in the steamer reveal their round bodies, and the smell of radish and meat evaporates. When you take a bite of the radish meatball, the crispness of the radish, the freshness of the diced meat, and the toughness of the sweet potato starch are intertwined. That's the taste of hometown, full of love.

Tags

• hot dishes
• home cooking
• cooking wine
• light soy sauce
• old soy sauce
• onions
• pork belly
• sweet potato starch
• white radish
• salt

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Pork belly, cut into cubes. I cut it for a while to make it into minced meat; the stickiness will be better;

   

2. 2 White radish, peeled and diced;

   

3. 3 Mix the white radish, minced meat, and sweet potato starch together;

   

4. 4 Add salt;

   

5. 5 Then add cooking wine, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce;

   

6. 6 Stir evenly, in one direction, stir vigorously; let stand for 10 minutes; prepare the steamer;

   

7. 7 Lay out the steamer, roll them into balls one by one, and place them on the steamer; bring to a boil over high heat, turn to medium heat, simmer for 15 minutes, and then you can take it out of the pot;

   

8. 8 Put it on a plate, sprinkle with chopped green onion, and it’s ready to eat;

   

9. 9 Come and try one too