彰化肉圆 Taiwanese Meatballs (Bawan)

When I first heard of this dish, I thought it is a whole meat balls just like 红烧狮子头 , but is actually a complete different kind of dish :P The skin of the meatballs is made with sweet potato starch and rice flour (to be cooked into paste like) and thereafter encased with the meat fillings like mushroom, bamboo shoot and pork. With the clear instructions and picture from the recipe book which I borrowed from the library, I managed to make this effortlessly :) It tasted very special! Translucent and chewy skin with flavourful fillings, even my girl enjoyed this Taiwanese meatball!

Dissolve the flour with water and cook them till paste liked

Spread the paste like dough into oiled bowl and fill up with meat fillings

Cover with more paste to seal the fillings, and ready for steaming

After steaming, pan fry lightly till golden brown and serve with sauce

Recipe ref : 台湾小吃图解版

Ingredient (4 servings)

Filling :

• 150gm pork fillet, finely diced
• 50gm bamboo shoot, finely diced
• 6 dried shiitake mushroom, softened & finely diced
• 2 tbsp fried shallots
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder

Dough

• 50gm rice flour
• 150gm sweet potato starch
• 275ml water

Method

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in pan, add mushroom and sauté till fragrant.
2. Add in bamboo shoots and pork fillet. Fry till meat turn white.
3. Add in seasoning and fried shallots and mix evenly. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Combine flour with water in a small mixing bowl,  stir till well dissolved.
5. Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Place the bowl of flour batter over the pot. Stirring constantly and cook till batter turns thick. 
6. Grease 4 small bowls with corn oil. Scoop some cooked batter into each bowl. Lightly grease your fingers and press out the dough to cover the base of the bowl. Fill in meat filling. Top with another layer of cooked dough covering the fillings completely. Using greased fingers to smoothen out the edge and surface.
7. Steam the meatballs over preheated steamer over high heat for 10mins. Cool down for 10mins.
8. Heat some oil in pan, remove the meatballs from the bowl and pan fry them  till lightly brown on both sides. Drain well and serve with sauce immediately.

Sauce : Combine all ingredients, except cornstarch, and bring to a simmer. Add in cornstarch water to thicken the sauce. 

• 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 4 tbsp Hai Shan sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 100ml water
• 2 tbsp cornstarch water

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies

Cook-Your-Books #15 @ kitchen flavours