Ingredients
- Fatty pork, hand-cut rather than mashed fine
- Scallion, ginger, and sometimes water chestnut
- Soy and rice wine
- Bok choy or napa cabbage
- Stock
How it is cooked
- The pork is chopped so it stays succulent, seasoned, and formed into large balls.
- They are browned or not, depending on the region, then braised with cabbage until tender.
- A Yangzhou-style version is often pale. A red-braised version is darker and sweeter.
- One meatball is a share for two people. They are richer than they look.
Taste
Soft, porky, and gentle compared with a Sichuan stir-fry. The cabbage is sweet from the pot. You should be able to break the meatball with a spoon.
Possible allergens
- Pork.
- Soy sauce, which in China is often brewed with wheat.
- Wheat in the noodles or wrappers, and often in soy sauce.
- Egg is sometimes a binder.
- Rice wine.
- A shared wok or a house chili oil can add peanut, sesame, or shellfish even when the recipe does not.