Xiu Mai (Pork Meatballs with Quail Egg in Tomato Sauce)

Method

1. Wash the tomatoes, remove the seeds and cut them into small dice. Finely chop the onion and jicama, then squeeze them dry. Chop the spring onion, keeping the white parts separate. Boil the quail eggs and peel them.
2. Add to the ground pork the spring onion whites, 1 tablespoon chopped spring onion, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1/3 teaspoon black pepper, the onion, the jicama and 1.5 tablespoons cornstarch. Mix well and marinate for 15 minutes.
3. Take enough pork for one ball, press it flat across your palm with a spoon, set a quail egg in the middle and roll it closed.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a pan, fry 2 tablespoons minced shallot until fragrant, then add the tomato and stir fry.
5. Add 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon seasoning powder, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon chili sauce, 1 tablespoon ketchup and 300ml water, stir well and cook the sauce for 5 minutes.
6. Lower the meatballs into the sauce one by one and cook for another 20 minutes over medium heat. Adjust the seasoning, stir in the spring onion and turn off the heat.
7. Spoon onto a plate and serve with hot rice or bread.

Tips

• Wring the onion and jicama completely dry, which is what binds the meatballs and keeps them from crumbling in the sauce.
• Flatten the pork in your palm before setting the quail egg in the middle, and the balls come out round with the egg inside.
• Cook the tomato until it collapses completely before adding liquid, since a rushed stir fry leaves a raw edge in the sauce.
• Simmer over medium heat and do not stir hard, so the meatballs hold their shape.
• Reduce the sauce until it thickens before spooning it over rice, which tastes far fuller.