Four Happiness Pork Balls

Chicken, pineapple, cashews and crushed red pepper mixed with carrots, onion, scallions, mushrooms, snow peas stir fried in a chicken broth, oyster sauce, honey, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar mixture. Served over long grain Chinese white rice.

Ingredients -

3 1/2 oz peeled Chinese Yam (potatoes can be substituted)
1 egg (beaten)
14 oz Lean Pork
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Teaspoons Rice Wine
9 oz Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoons Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoons chopped Scallions
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 large Fennel Bulb
1 Teaspoon fresh chopped Ginger
2 cups Beef Stock

Preparation:

1. Boil, peel and mash the yam or potato.

2. Mince the pork.

3. Mix with the yam mash, rice wine, 1 tsp. of the soy sauce, salt, and 1 tsp. of the ginger.

4. Stir in one direction until the pork and yam paste stiffens

5. Shape it lightly into four flattened balls.

6. Mix egg, cornstarch, and 1 tsp. soy sauce into a paste and coat the balls.

7. Heat the oil in wok over medium heat to moderately hot.

8. Deep-fry the meatballs until they are reddish-brown.

9. Drain, and place in a heat-proof bowl.

10. Add the scallion, the remaining 3/4 tsp. ginger, the fennel, and stock, and place the bowl in a steamer.

11. Steam the meatballs until done.

12. Discard the scallions, ginger and fennel.

13. Remove and serve.

Cooking Tip

Rice Vinegar

Since rice vinegar has less acidity than other vinegars, the sweetened vinegar is a good choice for vinaigrettes on greens, providing a mildly sweet flavor as a salad dressing. The unsweetened version provides a very mild acidic flavor to cooked foods and is a very popular ingredient for a variety of Asian food dishes.

Chinese Cooking Tip

Cut stir-fry meats and vegetables into even sized pieces for the best stir-frying results