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Restaurant Quality Meals and Appetizers easily made at home

Asian Meatballs: Chinese Pork Meatballs (Char Siew style)

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Chinese Pork meatballs: Char Seiw like charring on the edges with flavors hitting notes of sweet and salty in each that are ideal for delicious asian meatball appetizers in about 20 minutes.

 

Chinese Pork meatballs: in individual Blue Chinese serving spoons with a closeup with sauce drizzled over the top.

Chinese Pork meatballs are full of all of the flavors you love in chinese food takeout.  Salty, sweet, smoky, charred edges with juicy tender pork inside.  You can make them in about 20 minutes in a skillet or a wok so they can be made at the last minute for you or your guests enjoyment.

I’m super excited to share this asian meatball recipe with you. It’s a recipe from one of my foodie friends Charmaine Ferrara who writes at Wok and Skillet. Char wrote a cookbook  called “The Healthy Wok.”  A cookbook about simple, healthy versions of your favorite takeout meals.

 

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW TO SEE HOW EASY THESE ARE TO MAKE YOURSELF!!

 

Easy way to serve meatballs. Chinese Pork meatballs: Stacked on a tan plate, with sauce in a white bowl next to it

 

As most of you know, I kind of have a meatball addiction, thus I have a lot of meatballs on my site (check out a few of them like Gouda Cheese Meatballs, IKEA Copycat Swedish Meatballs, Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and BBQ Bacon blue Cheese meatballs.)

 

Pictured here are bacon wrapped meatballs, Swedish meatballs on a blue plate, buffalo chicken meatballs and blue cheese bacon meatballs on a white plate

What pork to use for Asian Meatballs?

This recipe for Chinese Pork Meatballs is the first meatball I’ve made that is primarily made from pork.  Pork meatballs tend to be really juicy and full of flavor.  For time saving purposes I purchased ground pork with full fat.

You can purchase the low fat option, but I find that when I do that the meatballs are really dry. Because you cook them in a skillet using the regular ground pork you will be able to leave the fatty oil that cooks out in the skillet.

If you wish to grind your own pork you can use pork belly, pork shoulder or pork butt.  I highly suggest you don’t use a pork loin as there is not near enough fat to pork ratio for juicy tender meatballs.

What is Char Siew? (char siu)

Char Seiw (sometimes spelled siu) is a cantonese dish that translates to “fork roasted.” Usually there are cut strips of marinated pork skewered then “roasted” over an open flame.

The marinade caramelizes as it cooks.  Most times you see it a red color when you get it in dishes at restaurants.  (That red color comes from using bean paste in the marinade.)

How to cook Chinese Pork Meatballs

The recipe calls for cooking them in wok, and they were easy to roll around in the wok for even cooking.

ALTERNATIVE TIP:  You could also make them in a skillet if you don’t have a wok.  I found that a cast iron skillet worked really well.  The pan got hot enough to really get a nice sear on the edges and the pork charred very nicely.

Either way you will love the way the edges almost taste like they have been grilled but when you bite into them they are juicy and flavorful.

 

The Healthy Wok cookbook by Charmaine Ferrara a photo of the cover with A simple broccoli beef stir fry on a blue cover

 

Here is the link to Amazon for you to purchase your own, or to give your favorite someone a cookbook they will use for years to come. (Not a sponsored link, I simply love sharing a healthy version of Chinese takeout recipes!)

 

Chinese Pork meatballs:Three meatballs served individually on spoons with a serving plate stacked high in the back!

Need more Asian Recipes to make at home ?

 

 

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Chinese Pork meatballs: Char Seiw like charring on the edges with flavors hitting notes of sweet and salty in each that are ideal for a delicious appetizer in 20 minutes.

 

4.65 from 17 votes
Chinese Pork meatballs: Char Seiw like charring on the edges with flavors hitting notes of sweet and salty in each that are ideal for a delicious appetizer in 20 minutes.
Print
Chinese Pork Meatballs
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
These meatballs are a slightly different take on the giant pork meatballs so popular in China. They are inspired by Chinese barbecue pork, or char siew, and their smaller size means they can be pan-fried in a wok. The five-spice powder infuses the char siew with its unmistakable flavor, and I love charring the outside just a bit for that seared barbecue crispness.
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American, Chinese
Keyword: asian meatballs, Chinese meatballs, dim sum appetizer recipe
Servings: 20 meatballs
Calories: 91 kcal
Author: Charmaine Ferrara
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves , minced
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
  • 2 pinches ground white pepper
  • 3 tablespoons peanut oil
Sauce
  • Green onions or chives for garnish (cut green ends to get tiny circles
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 2-3 tablespoons sriracha sauce (optional)
  • Green onions or chives for garnish
Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the pork, cornstarch, ginger,garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, five-spice powder, and pepper, and mix well.

  2. Roll 1 heaping tablespoon of pork mixture into a ball and continue until all the pork mixture is used. (about 20 small meatballs)

  3. In a wok or skillet over medium heat, heat the peanut oil. Using a wok spatula, spread the oil to coat enough of the wok surface to fry about 10 meatballs at a time. Lower the meatballs into the wok in batches.

  4.  Cook without moving for about 2 minutes, or until the bottoms are cooked through. Use the spatula to carefully rotate the meatballs to cook on the other sides.

  5. Keep rotating the meatballs gently until cooked through.
Sauce

  1. Combine all ingredients except garnish and stir to mix well.  Sriracha sauce can be adjusted to get as spicy as you wish.  

  2. Cut chiffonade (small circles from green onion to float in sauce.)  Serve sauce in dipping bowls on the side, and/or drizzle lightly over the top of meatballs.  Sprinkle additional green onion circles over the top for presentation.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

All recipe calorie information was calculated on what I purchased to make this recipe. When you make the recipe, the calorie content could vary depending on what specific ingredients/brands you actually use. Please take that into consideration if you are following a strict diet.

The sauce recipe is not from Char's book but from a cooking class I took many years ago with Jet Tila.  You may find his recipe on my site under Chinese Pork Dumplings.

Chinese Pork meatballs: Char Seiw like charring on the edges with flavors hitting notes of sweet and salty in each that are ideal for a delicious appetizer in 20 minutes.

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Comments

  1. I have no idea what “sweet soy sauce” is – and I am not a novice in the kitchen! LOL

    Sorry if I have multiple posts! – Don”t know if form is submitting or not (embarrassing)

    Reply

    • Hi Rachel! No worries… sweet soy is used commonly in Thai foods and is a little thicker than soy sauce. depending on where its from it is made with palm sugar or with molasses. If you can’t find it, you could add a little brown sugar to soy sauce to create a thicker sauce to get the balance of sweetness for this recipe! Im putting a link into the recipe card for what they have on amazon. It will give you some brands to look for at your local grocery store. ~michele

      Reply

    • Angela they freeze well. I go ahead and fry them then let them cool completely before freezing. Allow them to come to room temp before reheating them… I usually microwave them to warm them up but you can do a quick sautée in a skillet too!. ~m

      Reply

    • Yes I do… they may be a little bit dryer if you are using ground turkey breast because of the low fat content, but turkey will absolutely work. ~m

      Reply

  7. These look absolutely amazing! What a fantastic idea for a a fun weekend night with friends; thanks for sharing these!

    Reply

    • I think they would work fine baked…. Depending on the size… Id try 275° for 15 minutes, then cut into one to see if they are done, or need to be cooked a little longer. ~ Michele

      Reply

    • I just cooked those meatballs, but added half a cup of oats instead of starch, and added chopped capsicum and also large tbsp of corriander paste. I also rolled them in panko crumbs, they were yum. My sauce was a lime, coconut asian sauce.

      Reply

  18. I made these tonight when I had to change dinner very quickly from Italian (ran out of tomato sauce), to Oriental. They were very good – I’m not big on meatballs per set because I’m not a big lover of red meat – but we all enjoyed these, including me. Great recipe. Thank you.

    Reply

  19. Made these last night with meatloaf meat mixture. Made into full dinner. Served with rice and Asian Cucumber salad. So delicious!!

    Reply

  24. I love meatballs in general and I like to experiment with new influences and flavors! This recipe looks incredibly tasty and I will have to give it a try as soon as possible. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

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