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There are many kinds of Hakka balls, in general, including meatballs and vegetarian balls. Among them, meatballs generally refer to ball-shaped foods made of meat foam as the main ingredient, usually including pork balls, beef balls, fish balls, etc., which we can often see in hot pot restaurants. Meatballs are found all over the country, in many places, with different practices, but they are similar. As for vegetarian balls, each region has its own unique style. Today, we will understand the cultural inheritance of Hakka pills through the interpretation of various types of balls.
Speaking of meatballs, many people will think of the famous dish of the state banquet, "Sunflower Chopping Meat", which is now Yangzhou's "lion's head". This is a classic dish dating back to the Sui Dynasty, and it is also a spherical food made of meat foam. Although they are all meatballs, compared with pork balls and beef balls, their appearance and taste are also far from each other.
The pork balls that this article mainly discusses are called "pounding pills" in the Hakka language. Obviously, in the literal sense, this is a kind of balls made by hand hammering, because pork balls are often used to make balls, and the Hakka people call pork balls "hammer balls".
Hammering this craft is also quite historical in Chinese food culture, and can even be studied to the earliest court banquet - the Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty. In Zhou Bazhen, the fifth-ranked "Pounding Zhen" used the hammering technique.
"Take the flesh of the ox, the sheep, the elk, the deer, and the elk, and it will be burned." Every thing is one with the ox, pounding on the opposite side, taking its bait, out of it, going to its throat, softening its flesh. ” —— From the Book of Rites
According to the Book of Rites, the method of making the dish of "pounding zhen" is to put beef, mutton, venison, etc. together, beat it repeatedly until it is soft, and then remove the fascia and cook it with dipping sauce to eat.
From this point of view, the Hakka "pounding pills" is the inheritance and development of "pounding treasures". After a bit of hammering, the meatballs not only taste pure, can well retain the original taste of the meat, but also make the meatballs both chewy and non-slaggy. In addition, Hakka beef balls are also through the hammering process, the toughness of the balls to the extreme, so that "refreshing" has become a word of mouth mark of Hakka balls.
When it comes to beef balls, we have to mention the famous "Chaoshan beef balls". The "beef balls" derived from Hakka cuisine have been introduced to the Chaoshan region and have been improved and evolved to become a local food business card.
After talking about pork balls and beef balls, where does the history of fish balls come from? According to legend, the common fish balls on our table have their origins related to Qin Shi Huang. According to the Barnyard History, Qin Shi Huang liked to eat fish, but he hated fish bones. The imperial court cook, several of whom died because of fish thorns, were killed by the grumpy Qin Shi Huang sword.
Under the pressure of power, a royal chef accidentally created a new dish when he was uncertain, that is, the fish puree smashed by the knife was thrown into the boiling leopard fetal soup and turned into balls. Unexpectedly, he won the reward of Qin Shi Huang, and since then, the "Fish Ball" has been passed from the court to the people and has become famous all over the world.
Meatballs have a long history, and the Hakka ancestors who suffered from the war and chaos in the Central Plains did not forget to bring meatball technology to a new place of residence in addition to migrating and running. This kind of meatballs made through ancient techniques always expresses the Hakka people's expectations for the prosperity of the Taiping Dynasty and the desire for family reunion.
The Hakka people love all kinds of meatballs, not only because the meatballs taste in line with their taste needs, but also because the meatballs have a good intention. In the Hakka dialect, the word "pill" of meatballs is pronounced the same as the "circle" of reunion, and it is also consistent with the "yuan" of "fate".
Because they know that their ancestors have suffered from migration and the tragedy of family destruction, today's Hakka people are more and more concerned about reunion. Not only do you eat meatballs when you entertain guests, but you also eat meatballs at your daily meals to express your satisfaction with the happiness and reunion of your current life. In addition, the derived harmonic sound "fate" is also the meaning that the Hakka people continue to pursue. In addition to reunion, the Hakka family will also pin their good fortune on meatballs, so meatballs are also a very common dish on the wedding table.
The Hakka ancestors who migrated from the north to the south have always been clever at inventing new cuisines. In Hakka cuisine, all kinds of stuffed dishes are similar to buns and dumplings invented based on local ingredients. Balls are no exception. In the Hakka region, there are many kinds of balls, including various types of meatballs and vegetarian balls. Among them, the open pot meatballs, fish balls and pounding pills under the meatballs are called "Hakka three pills".
Open the pot meatballs
"Open pot meatballs" is another form of "pork balls", and the main ingredient of both is pork. The preparation method of "open pot meatballs" is mainly to cut the pork belly into foam, stir-fry until cooked, add tapioca flour, with peanut crushed and other accessories, knead into a ball shape, put into a steaming dish, and cook it by steaming.
Fish pills
"Fish balls" are fish balls, usually referring to balls made from grass carp. The Hakka are good at cooking grass carp, mainly because the Hakka area is rich in grass carp. Since the Tang Dynasty, the Hakka people have mastered the technology of "breeding cooked land", and grass carp has become a common food on the table. The Hakka people's cooking of grass carp can be described as superb, grass carp on the table, no longer limited to their own steaming of fish, Hakka also studied a lot of chic eating methods. "Raw fish" and "fish balls" are another interpretation of grass carp dishes by Hakka.
Pounding pills
As mentioned earlier, "pounding balls" are common pork balls. With the development of science and technology, today's "pounding balls" production process has gradually separated from the manual era, and more have begun to be replaced by machines. Even in mechanized production, knowledgeable Hakka people can still make the punching balls to be smooth and chewy.
Of course, for the "Hakka three pills" statement, some Hakka areas will think that the "Hakka three pills" should contain pounding balls, beef balls, and fish balls. Even if there is a small difference, this just shows that "meatballs" have a very important position in the hearts of hakka.
Hakka balls, in addition to meatballs, also contain a bunch of vegetarian balls. The industrious Hakka are good at using local materials and can use common ingredients around them to create a variety of chic vegetarian balls. Ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, papayas, bitter melons, etc., even if there is no smell of fish and shrimp, the vegetarian balls made can often be eaten by everyone.
Generally speaking, vegetarian balls are mainly made of vegetarian dishes plus flour or tapioca flour, with a variety of onion and ginger spices, which can be steamed or fried, and the balls made can also be full of toughness.
In addition, in addition to the pure meatballs and vegetarian balls, Hakka balls also have a kind of balls that are between the two, and the meat and vegetarian combination, such as "radish meatballs". The following is a detailed introduction to the production process of "radish meatballs", so that everyone can better understand the essence of the production of Hakka balls, so as to more closely understand the Hakka ball culture.
How to make "Hakka radish meatballs"
ingredient:
500 grams of pork, 1 green onion, 1 radish, 2 slices of ginger.
1 egg, sweet potato powder to taste, shallots to taste.
steps:
1: Wash and peel the radish and rub it into a filament with a special tool. Generally, do not use a knife to cut the silk, the tool to rub out to ensure that the radish shredded thickness is uniform.
2: Chop the pork, chop the green onion and ginger slices into a foam, and cut the shallots into green onions and set aside. Here the pork can be crushed with a meat grinder.
3: Put the meat foam, ginger foam, green onion foam and radish shredded in a bowl, and then add the egg liquid. Pour in an appropriate amount of oyster sauce, salt, delicious and sweet potato powder and grasp thoroughly by hand.
4: Knead the ingredients into a ball by hand, then fry them one by one in a frying pan until golden brown on both sides. At this time, it is easy to control the heat with a medium-low heat, and it will not be fried until it becomes zoomed.
5: When fry until it is almost the same, add an appropriate amount of water, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
6: Open the lid and sprinkle in the green onion, then come out of the pot and enjoy the delicious taste. Seasoning is not required during simmering, as the meatballs have been seasoned before they are made.
The production method of "radish meatballs" is not difficult, mainly after the radish is kneaded into silk, mixed with meat foam, mixed with starch for easy molding. This dish can not only eat the elastic teeth of meat, but also taste the fresh flavor of vegetarian food. Meat and vegetarian collocation, still appearing on the table in the shape of balls, showing the Hakka people's love for balls all the time. Through the "radish meatballs", we can also understand that the ball culture has penetrated into the daily table of the Hakka people.
Hakka people like to eat balls, whether it is a wedding celebration and other festive feasts, or a daily three-meal family banquet, you can see the figure of balls everywhere. Whether it is meatballs or vegetarian balls, even if they are meat and vegetarian balls, all kinds of balls that symbolize reunion and auspiciousness are always the favorite of guests and friends.
In addition, for the Hakka, the pills are also a lifelong memory that accompanies them from childhood to twilight. Hakka people who have wandered away from home, pills have become a sustenance for their missing relatives, carrying countless homesick feelings. Therefore, maruko also expresses the Hakka people's inheritance of culture all the time.
I am a future cook, an explorer who focuses on food culture. Welcome to follow me and explore the charm of Chinese cuisine with me. We'll see you next time.
(This article is original by @mirage cook, refuse to move)