Chinese chicken meatballs in a dark soy gravy is one of my go-to dinners on hectic weeknights. With right combination of sauces, these Chinese chicken meatballs served on top of rice will give you a fine dining experience!
Chinese food is my weakness and I am up for it at any given day! I also love to experiment with Chinese sauces and try to make something new like these Chinese chicken meatballs tossed in dark soy sauce.
These Chinese chicken meatballs in a dark soy gravy came together with right balance of sweetness, tanginess and spicy kick thanks to the sauce mix and all that happened during an experimental trial of mine!
It was a hectic day after work and I was in no mood to order a take-away. So, the chicken breasts stored in my freezer came in handy and few seconds of thought later, I decided upon these Chinese chicken meatballs.
I had no plan whatsoever in my mind; I only zeroed in on the chicken meatball part and the rest followed through.
I wanted to whip up the dinner as fast as possible that day and after this successful experiment with these quick & easy Chinese chicken meatballs, I know which way to go when you need to churn out a tasty meal very quickly!
Making chicken meatballs is as easy as a child’s play. First you need to mince the chicken breast using a grinder or you can use store-bought chicken mince; although I recommend you to grind your own chicken mince.
Then flavor the meat with some aromatics like fresh ginger and garlic or you can use powdered version of ginger and garlic too! you may or may not add some finely chopped onion; I did add it to mine but honestly onion is not mandatory.
Finally, add a tenderizer which is egg in this case and a binder which is corn flour. And your Chinese chicken meatballs are ready to rock!
To make the sauce for my Chinese chicken meatballs, I used dark soy as the dominating flavor and balanced its richness by using hot and sweet tomato ketch up.
You can use any other hot sauce like hot garlic sauce or sriracha or red chili sauce and then balance it by adding some brown sugar. Oriental food has their specialty in appropriately balancing all tastes like sweetness, tartness and spiciness.
Easiest way to whip up a good Chinese sauce for your stir fries or gravies is to whisk different sauces in a bowl in small portions and taste it before adding to the hot pan.
While tasting you can adjust to whichever taste appeals you the most, e.g. we don’t like too much sweetness in our savory dishes, so we keep our sugar content pretty low.
Exciting thing about Chinese gravies is that every time you whisk some combination of sauces, chances are you will discover a completely new version which will freak you out more than the earlier one.
So, once you make these easy peasy Chinese chicken meatballs, making the gravy is just a matter of minutes. I used some bell peppers of assorted colors to increase our veggie intake and colorful bell peppers brings in a stunning look to the dish too!
You can use any veggie of your choice which you would generally use in your stir-fries. Also sprinkle the final Chinese chicken meatballs gravy with some freshly chopped greens of spring onions and about a teaspoon of white sesame seeds.
The greens will add extra freshness and the sesame seeds will add additional crunch which will beautifully complement the succulent Chinese chicken meatballs which almost have a melt-in-mouth texture. All in all, a total win-win recipe! Do try it!
- Chicken breast – 1
- Ginger – 2 inch piece
- Garlic cloves – 8 to 10
- Green chili – 2
- Onion – 1
- Corn flour – 2 tbsp
- Egg – 1, small
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
- Dark soy sauce – 6 tbsp
- Hot and sweet tomato ketch up – 6 tbsp
- Red, yellow & green bell pepper – 1 cup, chopped
- Corn flour – 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
- Wash and pat dry the chicken breast; then grind it in an electric chopper/grinder. Take it out in a fairly large bowl.
- Chop the onion very finely. Grind the ginger, garlic cloves and green chilies into a paste.
- Add the chopped onion, ginger-garlic-green chili paste, cornflour and egg to the minced chicken and mix it thoroughly to make a dough-like mixture. If the mixture is too watery due to the egg, add more cornflour.
- Heat any flavorless oil like sunflower or canola in a griddle or frying pan. Make small balls of chicken and fry them on low heat till deep brown. Set aside.
- Heat the same oil and add the chopped bell peppers. Fry them on high for couple of minutes.
- Add soy sauce and tomato ketch up while stirring continuously. Add water and tip in the fried chicken balls. Let it simmer on low heat for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile mix 2 tablespoon of cornflour with a cup of water. Add this to the gravy and stir it on high heat. The gravy will thicken almost immediately. Switch off the flame as soon as you get your desired consistency.
- Serve the Chinese chicken meatballs hot with fried rice or Hakka noodles.
Ubaydah says
I love this recipe, you really simplified it.
Stephanie @ Raising A Family On A Budget says
This sounds so good, and is a unique twist on meatballs. I can’t wait to try it!