Chinese Style Pork & Tofu Meatballs

We enjoyed these meatballs very much. The flavour is delicate and mild, but not bland, and the texture is soft and tender but not mushy.

I did find them a little fragile - they required fairly careful handling while they cook. I made them twice, actually; the first time I made a version with no egg and less flour, but they really didn't hold together well at all. I also didn't drain the tofu the first time. The recipes I referred to called for "firm tofu" but I suspect that there is much firmer tofu out there than what is sold at the local grocery store under that name. At any rate the eggs, extra flour, and draining the tofu made them hold together much better the second time.

This also makes a lot of meatballs. I don't know how they would freeze, but I think it would be worth trying. In theory, you could cut the recipe in half, but since tofu and ground pork tends to get sold in the quantities listed below, you would still be left with half a package of each. Might as well make the meatballs.

6 to 8 servings
40 minutes prep time
PLUS 1 to 2 hours to drain tofu

420 gram (14 ounces) firm tofu
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup barley or other flour
1 large or 2 small eggs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
a little oil to fry

Use a fine sieve, or line one with coffee filters. Crumble the tofu into it very finely, then set it to drain for 1 to 2 hours. When it is done, squeeze it a bit to drain out some more liquid. When it is quite dry, transfer it to a mixing bowl.

Trim, wash, dry, and mince the cilantro and green onions. Add them to the tofu, along with the barley flour, eggs, soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper. Mix very thoroughly; I find it easiest to do it by hand. You can be quite rough with it and even knead it. This will give the meatballs a slightly chewy texture and help them stick together.

Form the mixture into meatballs using about 2 tablespoons of the mixture each. Heat enough oil in a skillet to cover the bottom of the pan generously. Fry the meatballs for a minute or two on each side; for a total of about 6 minutes each. The heat should be medium-high; they can get reasonably browned but slowly enough to allow them to cook through. If you are cooking the entire mixture you will almost certainly need to do them in batches. They can be kept in the oven at 200°F to keep warm as they are done. However, the mixture will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days and can be cooked up as needed.

Serve with rice or noodles; these could also go into soup.

Posted in: Ontario Food