Tofu Meatballs or LazyMan Meatballs 豆腐肉圆 ／ 懒人肉圆 – Eat What Tonight
LOL. Wondering why it’s called lazy man meatballs ? Well, I specially name it that way! In most or should I say all of our asian meatballs recipes, most of the times we couldn’t do without water chestnuts or diced carrots in them to give that extra taste and crunch.
And to me, water chestnuts though good, but often pose a challenge with all the peeling as there’s seldom a time I manage to get all properly peeled without cutting my hand. And wastage is often high as there’s often quite a few rotten ones in probably a whole batch that was bought. Yet those that are sold ready-peeled are often too big a bag to finish consuming. After all, it’s just a small portion we need for meatballs.
So set that idea aside, I really love meatballs, asian kind of meatballs I mean. I wanted something that’s really easy to prepare, save aside the tedious peeling of water chestnuts. And carrots aren’t exactly my favourite. Hence, after some trials, I manage to come off with these LazyMan meatballs which maybe should “professionally” be termed Tofu Meatballs, is a mixture of minced meat and tofu together with the perfect marinade and stuffs to attain a smooth meatball texture.
It’s a totally brainless recipe. Crush the tofu into the minced, wrap in all the seasonings, set aside and deep frying them till golden brown. And I absolutely love the golden hue of these meatballs. It’s like you cannot help but popping a few into your mouth as you walk past them because they look so irresistible !
So kudos to these LazyMan Meatballs, I can finally “escape” from the challenge of peeling water chestnuts now !! LOLs.
Enjoy !!
Tofu Meatballs or LazyMan Meatballs 豆腐肉圆 ／ 懒人肉圆
Recipe type: Chinese
Cuisine: Light Bites
- 140g minced meat (pork or chicken)
- 1 egg tofu
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp light soya sauce
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 4 tsp corn flour
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- dash of pepper
- Some cooking oil for deep frying
- Mix the minced meat together with the egg tofu, egg and all the rest of the ingredients using hand. Throw the mixture into the mixing bowl several times before setting aside for at least 3 hours in the fridge.
- Heat up some cooking oil for deep frying. Roll the minced mixture into balls and drop them gently into the hot oil.
- Deep fry till golden brown. Drain on paper towels to soak up excess oil before serving.
1) Using hand to throw the minced mixture into the mixing bowl increases the “stickiness” of the mixture and the meatballs will be more bouncy in texture also.
2) Test the hotness of the oil by putting a chopstick into the oil. If bubbles sizzle around the chopstick, the oil is ready for deep frying.
3) For an extra kick, you can add some seafood such as minced prawns or fish/sotong paste.
3.5.3208
I began to realise that many of our traditional home cooking often involves a certain degree of fermented condiments to spruce up the dish. And recently, I am starting to be quite “obsessed” with using fermented black beans in my cooking too ! LOL. Ever since my mum told me that adding a bit of these dry beans can make the dish feel more tasty, I have been trying it on several different dishes and indeed I do agree with her. I think mum and me do share similar taste buds in certain ways now because all the while, we have always been quite different when it comes to food. 
And one small pack of such beans costs less than a buck. While some people do mention that they will soak the beans prior to cooking, but I actually do not. Because the fermented black beans are in dry version, hence I feel that they should be used as it is. Of course, we shouldn’t be adding too much of it as it’s very salty in nature. But adding a dash or two of it to a dish will definitely enhance the overall taste of the dish.
