Order of placing ingredients for meat filling

Meat filling is a common filling when making steamed buns, pies or dumplings. The taste of meat filling is also very delicious, which is why many people like to eat meat filling food. However, you must be careful when making meat filling, because if the preparation method is incorrect, or even the order of adding ingredients is wrong, it will affect the taste of the meat filling. Here I will introduce to you how to make meat filling!

1. Add seasonings in order when stirring the meat filling

When mixing minced meat, the order in which seasonings are added is a key step in determining the quality of the minced meat. The right seasoning can make minced meat delicious and juicy. If the order is reversed and the proportions are unbalanced, the quality of the meat filling will be greatly affected.

The order of adding seasonings can be roughly divided into five steps:

First, dilute the minced meat with a small amount of water before stirring, sprinkle salt evenly, add soy sauce and minced ginger, and stir slightly. The purpose of this step is to facilitate the taste and increase the solubility of salt-soluble protein.

The second is to add MSG and mix evenly. MSG must be added with salt to have umami flavor. If MSG is added first, it will be difficult to taste the correct saltiness.

Third, add water (in portions) and stir vigorously in one direction until it becomes viscous. The main purpose is to change the unique spatial structure of the protein in the sol state after stirring, and further cross-link it to form a three-dimensional network spatial structure, that is, the gel state. When protein is in a gel state, it has the greatest water holding capacity, making the food tender and juicy.

Fourth, add a small amount of white sugar. The purpose is to decompose the white sugar into flavoring substances after heating, thereby increasing the deliciousness of the meat filling.

Fifth, add chopped green onion, cooking wine, etc. mixed with sesame oil and mix well before using. In particular, chopped green onions must be added just before using the stuffing to bring out its fresh fragrance and remove the meaty smell.

2. Add chopped green onion when using the stuffing

When mixing meat filling, the timing of adding chopped green onions must be correct to allow it to play its role, otherwise it will do more harm than good. It is not necessary to add the onions right before using the filling, so that the onion flavor can be brought out. Because the spicy aroma of chopped green onions is mainly composed of volatile sulfur-containing organic matter, most of these sulfides exist in the green onions in a bound form. For example, onions contain S-propylcysteine-S-oxide, S-methylcysteine-S-oxide, etc. These compounds are non-volatile. Only when the onion tissue is damaged (cut into onion pieces) will they be oxidized and decomposed into free volatile sulfides under the action of enzymes, and then they can emit a spicy and fragrant smell.

If chopped green onions are added to the meat filling too early, the enzyme will lose its activity due to the action of salt, which will hinder the oxidative decomposition of these compounds to form free volatile sulfides, reduce the spicy and fragrant smell, and thus the taste will easily change. Especially in an environment with relatively high room temperature, it will become sour and smelly, affecting the quality of the meat filling.

3. Don’t put chopped green onion or ginger in the meatball filling

After adding chopped green onion and ginger into the stuffing and mixing them evenly, some of them will always stick to the surface of the meatballs. After being fried in high-temperature hot oil, the chopped green onion and ginger on the surface will burn and change taste, and many black spots will appear, affecting the appearance. In addition, the onions in the meatball filling will easily change their taste due to the effect of salt, causing the finished product to lose its flavor. Therefore, it is not advisable to add chopped green onion or ginger to the meat filling of fried meatballs. In order to remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor, you can add appropriate amount of onion and ginger juice.