Pork Balls (Gee Yok Beng)

These Cantonese-style pork balls are tender, juicy, and crunchy around the edges. A pound of ground pork mixes with minced ginger root, scallion, and crucially, chopped water chestnuts, which are the secret to the signature snap-crunch you get in Chinese meatballs. Cornstarch binds everything without the weight of breadcrumbs, and a light touch of sugar balances the soy sauce.

Deep-fried until they float and turn deep golden, these are a standard Chinese banquet starter and a brilliant use of ground pork. Serve with a small bowl of soy-ginger dipping sauce or sweet-and-sour, keep warm in a low oven, and they disappear off the plate before the rice arrives.

Chef Tips

• Handle the pork mixture as little as possible, as the directions emphasize. Overworked meat becomes tough and dense, while a light touch keeps the balls tender.
• Keep the diced water chestnuts slightly chunky, not pureed. Those crisp white bits of water chestnut are the textural star, and finely chopping them turns them into invisible paste.
• Heat the oil to 350F (175C). Any cooler and the balls soak up oil. Any hotter and the outside browns before the center cooks through. A kitchen thermometer pays for itself in one batch.
• Fry in small batches. Crowded oil drops temperature fast, which means greasy, unevenly browned balls. The float-to-the-top signal works well as a doneness check.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry to the mix for more aromatic depth.
• Swap half the pork for shrimp paste for a pork-and-shrimp version closer to dim sum siu mai filling.
• Braise the fried pork balls in a simple oyster sauce gravy for a saucy banquet version.