Cantonese Steamed Beef Balls (Ngao Yuk)

Ingredients

• 450 gr lean ground beef (I use 93% lean ground beef)
• 2 gr baking soda
• 130 ml water
• 2 gr dried Mandarin peel
• 80 gr pork fat (you can use fat from pork belly)
• 1 stalk green onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 tsp alkaline water/lye water/ kan sui
• 60 gr water chestnut flour
• 100 ml water
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 100 ml water
• 200 gr watercress (weight is after trimming off the stems)
• Dried beancurd
• Worchestershire sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Prep the beef: ---

2. 2

   Put the beef and salt in the mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on speed 4 for about 2 minutes. Combine water and baking soda and add 1/3 at a time and making sure the water is absorbed before pouring the next 1/3 and continue until the water is all poured in. Continue beating for another 5 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can stir vigorously in one direction using a chopstick for about 15 minutes or so (lots of elbow grease I know!) Then cover and refrigerate overnight for 8-12 hours

3. 3

   --- Marinate the beef: ---

4. 4

   Combine all the ingredients for seasonings and set aside

5. 5

   Chop the watercress into smaller chunks. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the watercress and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pot onto a plate. When it's cool enough to handle, squeeze any extra liquid out from the watercress as much as you can. Excess liquid will affect the final texture of the beef balls. Finely chop the watercress

6. 6

   Soak the dried Mandarin peel in hot water for 20 minutes. Scrape the white part of the peel and then dice it into tiny pieces. Dice the pork fat into tiny pieces. Some grocery store sells pork fat, if you can't find any, you can buy pork belly and trim the fat to be used in this recipe

7. 7

   Combine water chestnut flour with 100 ml of water and set aside

8. 8

   Combine the peel, green onion, diced pork fat, and alkaline water (kan sui) with the beef. We are going to use a stand mixer again fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed 4 for about 15 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed so all the beef is beaten evenly

9. 9

   Add the seasonings and gradually add in the water chestnut flour mixture in 3 additions. Make sure the meat mixture absorbs the liquid before adding the next one. Continue beating for another 10 minutes. It should form a paste-like texture. Scrape the sides of the bowl halfway as needed. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use your clean hands, wet them with some water to prevent sticking and pick up the meat paste and slap it on the bowl and keep doing that for 15-20 minutes (don't say I didn't warn you!).

10. 10

    Fold the chopped watercress into the beef mixture and use a spatula to fold it in

11. 11

    Cover the bowl and let the beef marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge. If you can do overnight, that's even better! I did overnight

12. 12

    --- On the day you plan to serve: ---

13. 13

    Soak dried beancurd in warm water until softened. Drain off water. Line a steaming plate with the beancurd

14. 14

    Lightly wet your two palms to prevent sticking and then scoop some meat mixture, about 60 grams or so for medium-size beef balls or 100 grams for large ones. Round the meat mixture into a round ball and put it on the plate lined with beancurd. I arranged about 3 beef balls in one small plate. That's the amount they usually serve at dim sum restaurants. You can do several small plates like that or just steam all in one serving plate

15. 15

    --- Steaming: ---

16. 16

    Bring some water in a steamer to a boil. Place the plate in the steamer and steam for 12-14 minutes for medium-size beef balls. If you make large ones like I did (about 100 grams each), steam for about 20 minutes or until the beef is no longer pink. The heat is on high

17. 17

    --- Serve: ---

18. 18

    Serve them warm as is or with some drizzle of Worcestershire sauce