Hand-beaten beef balls

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A food processor, working in batches; or two cleavers to chop and pound, which is hand-beating proper
• A large bowl of iced water, and plenty of ice cubes
• A large, deep, heavy bowl for throwing the paste

How the time splits

1. 30 minCut the beef and freeze it until half firmhands off
2. 15 minProcess to a paste and stir in the salt until stickyhands on
3. 25 minBeat in the ice water in three lots and throw the paste until springyhands on
4. 1 hrChill in the fridge until firmhands off
5. 25 minSqueeze out the balls into hot water, below the boil, and poach until they floathands on
6. 15 minChill in iced water and drainhands off

Method

1. Trim every bit of sinew from the beef, cut it into small pieces and spread them out in the freezer for thirty minutes until half firm. The beef has to stay very cold all the way through for the balls to bounce; once the meat warms, they turn crumbly.
2. Make 60 ml of iced water: dissolve the bicarbonate of soda and the sugar in it and add a few ice cubes to keep it cold.
3. Pulse the beef in batches in the food processor to a smooth paste and put it all in the chilled bowl. Add the salt and stir hard in one direction for three or four minutes, until the paste turns thick and sticky.
4. Add the iced water in three lots, stirring each time until the paste has taken it all in and no water shows. Then mix in the fish sauce, pepper and cornflour, and finally the diced fat.
5. Gather a large handful of paste and throw it hard back into the bowl, again and again, until it is smooth and glossy and springs back when pressed, usually fifteen to twenty minutes. Cover and chill for an hour.
6. Heat a big pot of water until very hot but not boiling, about 70 to 80°C, with small bubbles at the edge. With a wet hand, take a fistful of paste and squeeze a ball out between thumb and forefinger, and scrape it into the hot water with a wet spoon. When all the balls are in, keep the heat low so the water never boils hard, and poach them until they float, then three minutes more.
7. Lift them straight into iced water for five minutes; the outside tightens and the bite gets bouncier. Drain, cool, freeze them spread apart and bag them once hard; use within a month.
8. At the hotpot they go into the boiling broth straight from the freezer, for two or three minutes more once they float; cut one open to check it is hot right through before eating. Beef made with bicarbonate of soda can stay a little pink in the middle even when cooked, so go by the time, not the colour; with a food thermometer, the centre should reach 75°C.

The short route

• Ready-made beef balls and beef tendon balls from a Chinese grocer's freezer, straight into the pot, two or three minutes more once they float.
• Ask the butcher to mince lean beef twice, which saves the cutting and processing; start at home from the step where the salt goes in; chill the mince well in the fridge first.

The sauce plate

Sha cha and soyChilli soy

Take care

• Contains pork (the pork fat, optional); fish sauce contains fish; the sha cha sauce in the saucer contains fish, shrimp (a crustacean), soy and sesame, and some brands contain peanut, and the soy contains soy and wheat (gluten).
• Minced beef must be cooked right through: poached until floating plus three minutes, then heated through again at the hotpot, hot right through when cut; bicarbonate can leave cooked beef a little pink, so go by the time, not the colour. Keep the paste cold throughout, and wash your hands and the board after handling raw meat. Get the cooked, cooled balls into the freezer within two hours.

The story

A hand-beaten beef ball gets its bounce from iced water and elbow grease. It takes real work, so you make a big tray at once, freeze it for several meals, and bring it out for the New Year's Eve hotpot.

Same kind

Prawn pasteEgg dumplingsCuttlefish paste

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.