Beijing Crisp-Glazed Meatballs
焦溜丸子
English: Beijing Crisp-Glazed Meatballs
Chinese: 焦溜丸子
Pinyin： jiao liu wanzi
Literal: Fried/scorched and slid meatballs
These Beijing meatballs manage to belong to two worlds at once: the elegant pages of restaurant menus and the comfort of home kitchens. They have that rare quality of feeling celebratory yet simple, a dish I’ve seen on a banquet table but also on a Tuesday dinner at home.
I first tasted them in Red Chamber Peking Duck restaurant, a neat pyramid of perfectly shaped meatballs, each one glistening in a sauce so sharply vinegared, the sharpness wafted over the table even before I took a bite.
The liu (溜) technique from this recipe is a hallmark of Beijing cooking. The word liu means “to slide” or “to glide,” and that’s exactly what happens here. The meatballs are deep-fried first until crisp, while the sauce is made separately - a glossy balance of sweet and sour. At the very end, the cooked meatballs are “slid” through the sauce, just long enough to coat them without softening their crunch. Quite a few Beijing classics rely on this technique from Yu Xiang Shredded Pork to Liu San Yang (“Three Slid Things”), giving dishes a lovely finish with very little effort.
Meatballs turn up across China in countless forms — the famous lion’s head of Jiangsu, peppery mutton balls from the northwest — but Jiao Liu Wanzi belongs firmly to the capital. It’s that contrast of textures — crisp against sticky — and the sweet-sour balance of the sauce that make it one of my favourites.
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
For the meatballs
250g pork - minced
2 spring onions - finely chopped
½ tablespoon ginger - pounded into paste
1 teaspoon soybean paste (huang dou jiang)
½ teaspoon sugar
½ tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons water
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
To fry
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups of oil (for deep-frying)
For the sauce
2 tablespoons Shanxi black vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 ½ tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water (slurry)
5 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger - finely chopped
2 spring onions - finely chopped
To garnish
1 spring onion - green part only - finely sliced
Method
Make the meatballs first. Using a cleaver or knife, chop the minced pork until it’s almost a smooth paste (a food processor also works). Add the spring onions and ginger and continue chopping until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the remaining meatball ingredients and stir with chopsticks until everything is well mixed. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, sugar, soy sauces, Shaoxing wine, and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves. In a separate small bowl, mix the cornstarch slurry. Set both aside. Keep the chopped garlic, ginger, and spring onions separate for now.
Remove the meat mixture from the refrigerator and shape into 12–15 small balls, each slightly smaller than a ping pong ball.
Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. While the oil heats, sprinkle the cornstarch on a small plate and lightly roll each meatball to give it a thin coating. When the oil is hot, fry the meatballs until golden brown and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pour off most of the frying oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the wok. Add the garlic, ginger, and spring onions and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the prepared sauce mixture and let it simmer for a few minutes. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook for another 30 seconds until the sauce thickens and bubbles.
Add the meatballs back to the wok and slide them gently through the sauce until evenly coated. Avoid cooking them for too long at this stage — you want to keep their crispiness.
Arrange the meatballs on a plate in a pyramid shape, drizzle with any remaining sauce, and garnish with the spring onion greens.
