Hi everyone, today I am going to make a Chinese steamed meat patty with salted egg.
It's a very common homemade dish, and it's useful in adding variety to rice-based meals.
The main ingredients are pork and raw salted egg.
As for the recipe of salted egg, you can check a previous episode with a detailed instruction.
Firstly, the meat patty is mixed with pork belly and shoulder meat.
The combination of both cuts leaves about 30% fat content, so the texture is better.
Cut them into strips first, and then dice into small pieces.
And then chop them up.
You can skip this step by using a food processor, or ground pork.
I personally like chopping the meat by myself, for a better texture.
Chopping is like working out, and it takes some time. But the tools are simple, you just need a blade and a chopping block.
I recommend using a thick and firm one made from ironwood.
And a regular heavy duty knife with some weight.
A delicate, sharp and expensive knife is not made for this, so don't use that.
Just a common chopper or cleaver will be fine.
First, chop lengthwise, and then crosswise. Repeat this process to chop them up.
After chopping for a while, gather those meat falling to the edge back to the center with your knife.
Repeat the chopping lengthwise and crosswise process.
Keep it up until the meat is chopped into a coarse mince.
Now, add in chopped spring onion and grind ginger.
Roughly chop the spring onion.
Use a grater to grind the ginger.
And then combine them in the meat.
Save some chopped spring onion for garnish later.
Mix the dry seasonings in, and resume chopping.
Let the flavor blend in.
Again, chop them lengthwise and then crosswise.
Gather the meat from both sides to the center, and repeat.
Add a pinch of salt in it.
Salt makes the meat sticky.
It's for the texture not the taste, so do not add in too much, since we will season it later with the salted egg white.
Keep working until the mixture reaches a desired consistency.
I like the patty to be a little grainy.
So that it still has a bite to it.
Transfer the patty mixture to a large bowl.
Now, add in cooking wine, sesame oil and pepper.
Mix well.
Crack the salted egg.
Add only the egg white into the mixture.
Set the egg yolk aside.
Let's mix the patty. In one direction, stir vigorously.
Do it vigorously and quickly as well.
Gradually the meat will become sticky.
And release some glutinous matter.
Keep doing so.
Until the patty gets very sticky and you can feel the resistance,
Add in 100ml of water for 2-3 times.
Resume stirring in one direction every time you add in water.
Not until water is all absorbed in the pork mince do you add water for the second time.
When all the water is blended into the patty, it will loose up a little bit.
So that your steamed patty will be tender.
Now the patty is done, and set aside.
Next up, dice the water chestnuts.
Here I am using canned water chestnut, they are peeled already.
You can also buy fresh ones and peel them yourself.
Dice them into fine pieces. They will add a crunchiness in the patty.
Plus, a little bit sweetness can balance the flavor of salted egg.
You can substitute with Chinese yam, or pear, both work just as well.
Now combine them into the patty mixture.
Mix well.
So we are done preparing the meat patty.
Put them in a deep plate.
Level out the surface, and pierce a dimple in the middle.
Place the salted egg yolk in it.
Let's put it on a steamer.
Over high heat, cook until steaming, and then turn down the heat to medium.
Steam for another 30 minutes. Time may vary depends on the thickness of your patty.
As long as it can be cooked through.
You can serve it right now, but I have a little finishing touch.
I scope out the salted yolk, chop it up, and then put it back in.
So that you can have every bite of it with both meat and yolk.
Sprinkle some chopped spring onion for garnish.
The recipe is simple, but it takes some time and effort to pull it off.
Mostly chopping the meat, and the texture is so much better of chopped patty than that from a blender.
Not to mention the sweetness from water chestnuts, and the crunchy bite with it.
Lastly, a homemade salted egg, balance out every ingredients in this dish.
I hope you enjoy this hommie and simple steamed pork patty with salted egg.
For a detailed recipe, you can refer to the description down below, or go to my blog. Thanks for watching.