Meat Balls with Sweet and Sour Sauce (Tsu Liu Wan Tzu)
- Nov 13, 2025
- 1 min read
I adapted this recipe from Fu Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Book Volume I. It's apparently a Northern Chinese dish. The seasoned meatballs are fried and then topped with a savory-sweet-vinegary sauce. You just can't go wrong with that flavor combination!
Notes
1
Place the ground pork and 1 tbsp cold water in a bowl then mix thoroughly with your hands for about one minute. Add the marinade ingredients and combine well. Let sit 20-30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.
2
Combine the sauce ingredients into a bowl or measuring cup; set aside.
3
Place 1 cup of cornstarch into a plate or shallow casserole. Form the meat mixture into 1" meatballs & coat with cornstarch. Place the meatballs onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Should form about 30 meatballs.
4
Heat 6 cups of oil in a medium sauté pan over high heat. Fry the meatballs in two batches about 2 minutes each. Remove each batch to a paper towel-lined plate.
Reheat the oil and fry the meatballs a second time (again, in two batches) for about 1 minute. Remove & drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
5
Pour out all the oil except for 1 tbsp in the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the sliced scallions and sauté for 30 seconds. Stir in the sauce, bring up to a boil and cook for about 1-2 minutes until the sauce is thickened.
6
Place the reserved meatballs onto a serving platter. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and garnish with fresh julienned scallions. This dish is great served with rice.
Instructions
1 lb ground pork
1 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 egg
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 scallions minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
Marinade
1 3/4 cups water
8 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
8 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
Sauce
6 cups vegetable oil
1 cup cornstarch
3 scallions thinly sliced along the bias into 1" sections
Meat Balls with Sweet and Sour Sauce (Tsu Liu Wan Tzu)
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Prep Time
30 min
Cooking Time
30 min
Rest Time
0 min
Total Time
1 hour
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