Saturday, November 15, 2014

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I was going thru my drafted posts, and found this Sweet and Sour Meatballs photo which I made a few months ago. The recipe was taken from an old Chinese cookbook which I bought more than two decades ago, when I was still single. It was pretty "expensive" back then, but I like the recipes and there's a photo for each recipe.




The cookbook, "Chinese Cuisine" by Huang Su-Huei is a book on Chinese cuisines, and was first published in January 1972. It has since been revised a number of times and has almost 70 reprintings since then, with many editions that were published in English, Chinese/English (bilingual edition), Japanese and French. Of course, my copy is the bilingual edition, and it was printed in 1991.

Huang Su-Huei has authored many books on Chinese cuisines. When I did a search from Amazon website, I was rather surprised to find that she has quite a number of books to her name. But surprisingly, not much info can be found on Huang Su-Huei. From what I gather at this website, she is a teacher, writer and cooking consultant and business operator. She began her career at the Wei-Chuan Food Corporation in Taiwan and eventually founded the Wei-Chuan Cooking School.

What I like about this cookbook is, it has many recipes that are simple enough for everyday dishes, and yet there are some recipes that are perfect for festivities and to serve if you are entertaining, Chinese-style. So far I have tried a few recipes from this book, mostly are before my blogging days. I have a few favourites that I do cook from time to time. I have posted before, one of it, Stir-fry Pork with Green Onions, which I served with rice, really delicious. 

Too bad I only have one of her cookbooks. I supposed that it is not easy to find her cookbooks anymore. And there's no updated info on this author, not even from Wei-Chuan Cooking School's website, when I went in to have a peek. Maybe there's more info, from Chinese websites, but I could not very well search from these websites, since I'm practically Chinese illiterate! 

Do you have any of Huang Su-Huei's cookbooks?


Sweet and Sour Meat Balls, as can be seen from the photo at the front cover of the book.

This is a simple and homey dish, great to have as part of a Chinese meal, served with plain rice, maybe with a soup and a green veggie stir-fry to accompany. Go easy on the vinegar, as I've used only about a tablespoon. Adjust the rest of the seasoning; soy sauce, sugar, salt, to your taste. I have omitted the red chilli since I do not have any at that time. This recipe can be found on the back page of the front cover of the cookbook.


Sweet and Sour Meat Balls
(adapted from "Chinese Cuisine", Huang Su-Huei)
1 lb ground meat beef or pork
Ingredients A :
1 tbsp cooking wine
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp cornstarch
cooking oil

Ingredients B :
1 cup button mushroom
1 cup Chinese pea pods or broccoli
1 precooked carrot, cut into pieces or scoop out balls

Ingredients C :
2 hot pepper, cut into pieces
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic

Ingredients D :
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
dash of sesame oil


  1. Mix well ground meat with Ingredients A.
  2. Heat the wok, then add oil. Form the meat into 1 inch balls. Deep-fry the meat balls for 3 minutes or until golden brown; remove. Remove the oil.
  3. Heat the wok then add 2 tablespoons oil. Stir fry Ingredients C until fragrant. Add Ingredients D; stir until thickened. Add Ingredients B and the meat balls; stir for 2 minutes. Serve.


I'm sharing this post with Cookbook Wednesday, hosted by the lovely Louise of Months of Edible Celebrations. If you have a cookbook that you would like to share, hop over to Louise's site for more info.



and :
Cook-Your-Books


14 comments:

  1. I love meatballs dish and this must be real good. Gonna try it soon. I remember I have a similar cookbook like yours by Huang su huei too...i guess it must be somewhere....

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  2. Hi Joyce,
    Agree with Mel, this meatballs dish really tasty. I noticed that most authentic Chinese dishes have cooking wine. This is something my late mom didn’t use as far as I know. Think I will try it one day. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. HI Joyce:)
    I just ran over to my cookbook shelf to see if I have any of her books, I don't. Although I do have quite a few Chinese recipe books but not hers. I'll be on the look-out now:)

    Sweet and Sour anything is a favorite of ours around here. I have made sweet and sour meatballs in ages. They are perfect over some nice fluffy rice. I better remember how delicious your look, lol...

    Thank you so much for sharing, Joyce and thank you so much for sharing this cookbook on Cookbook Wednesday. I have added your pic and link.

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    1. Hi Joyce,

      I know that Louise will love this post because she is a classic books collector but maybe this one is a little too difficult to find in America :p

      This is a great classic dish from a classic book... I like :D

      Before going, I like to tell you that I'm organizing a giveaway for 4 lucky winners. Hope that you are a one of them :D

      Zoe

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  4. wah someone sure like this. If he know he will ask you to cook for him

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  5. Hi Joyce! These meatballs look delicious!
    xo

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  6. The fact that your copy is so dog eared is testament to its great content. Who doesn't love sweet and sour meatballs? That was an excellent selection to show us.

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  7. Hi Joyce,
    This sweet and tangy meatballs looks so appetizing. It would be so nice to eat with steam rice.
    mui

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  8. Oh, la la, Joyce! They sound great!

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  9. Hi Joyce! I have this book too! But hmmm....I don't think I have tried any of the recipes yet. Oh dear! Judging from your yummy Sweet and Sour Meatballs, I must revisit this cookbook :)

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  10. I always like making my own Chinese dishes. It is healthier and so much better. It is also not so expensive.
    This does look real good something that I know would disappear in a minute! Have a beautiful Sunday. Catherine xo

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  11. The flavors sound wonderful! What a delicious recipe.

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  12. lovely dish.. comfort food to me on a cold whatever day...

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  13. Hi Joyce, I have a vast collection of cookbooks but regret I don't seem to have this particular book. Will try to look for it, as the books sounds good. Your sweet and sour meatballs is very ho jiak and tempting. Thumbs up to you and regards :)

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