Chinese Meatloaf

[RDZCRanch]

So, I've been asked to share a recipe that's pretty popular with my family and friends. My Yeh-yeh (dad's dad) came up with this back when he was living in China as a poor bachelor. We've been making it since I can remember. Don't be fooled! It does NOT taste like American meatloaf one bit! It's really good, simple and cheap and delicious with some rice!

You will need:
1lb ground meat (I prefer turkey but beef works really well)
2 to 4 stalks of green onion
1 stalk of Celery
rice wine (NOT sweet rice wine! If you can't find regular rice wine you can go without it)
soy sauce
dark/basalmic vinegar
ground ginger
Sesame Seed Oil
1 to 2 large eggs
mixing bowl
large pot w/ lid
small bowl to fit in pot

Chop up the green onions and Celery to whatever size you like. Smaller is better since it's going into ground meat, but you still want it in recognizable pieces, if that makes sense. Don't grind it, just chopped.

Mix together Meat, Celery, and Green Onions.

Then add in the egg and 2tsp ground ginger

Make sure the meat has a "slimy" look to it (to ensure the meat is coated in egg) if it's not, add another small egg.

Add in 1T basalmic/dark vinegar, 1T rice wine, and 1T of sesame oil and mix again. Once mixed add soy sauce. I don't have an exact measurement but add until the meat smells like soy sauce. Depending on the brand and how much salt it has, you'll have to use a different amount. Right now I'm using kikkoman and I use about a 1/2 cup of soy sauce.

 

[RDZCRanch]

At this point you may want to have started your pot of water boiling. You steam it to cook it. You want shallow water. As it boils, you don't want it to boil over onto the meat. For my size pot, I use about 2 cups of water and refill it as needed since it takes about a half hour to cook through.

Then put the meat into a small bowl that will fit inside the pot. I use a little metal bowl. I have no idea where to buy one...I stole this one from the parents.

Then...you just set the dish in the boiling water!

And cover it!

Check on it frequently...you don't want the water to boil off so you'll need to add a cup or two as it's cooking. Average cooktime is 30 minutes. This serves about two to four people, two pounds will feed up to 8 people. Two pounds takes a bit longer to cook

 

[Siylvat]

it looks delicious. My fiance is sitting here while I describe it and saying "can we make it now?"

 

[RDZCRanch]

You might have to mess around with the recipe a bit to get it to taste just right. It's very good and full of flavor...don't know how healthy it is though! lol!

And I forgot...this is what it looks like cooked

 

[alli713]

okay. I love my meat, but that last cooked picture does not look all that appetizing!

 

[RDZCRanch]

okay. I love my meat, but that last cooked picture does not look all that appetizing!

I know! Everyone who sees what it looks like cooked says they won't touch it, lol. We make them eat it anyways because we can, and they love it! It looks a lot better on the rice

ETA: The cooked picture is what it looks like with beef. The uncooked pictures are all with turkey meat. The turkey cooks up a bit cleaner, lighter and more appetizing looking but I didn't get a picture before Tyson tore into it last night, lol. They taste a bit different, but both are really good, juicy and full of flavor.

 

[SusieJJ]

How do you know it's fully cooked? We have a problem with thinking things aren't done Lots of burned food over here!

 

[RDZCRanch]

I use chopsticks and pull a little meat out of the center and if it's not red or pink, it's cooked! That's why the cooked meat has a little hole in it.

 

[Ash]

Tab, is your 1T tbsp or tsp?

 

[starleomach]

I kinda want to try this. Maybe this week

 

[ticklechin]

MMMMMM, that actually looks good to me, I think I will try it and put a teriyaki glaze over it!

 

[caiti]

Hmmm, I wonder if it would be good pan fried. I don't think I have a dish that would fit inside a saucepan for the meat and I am too impatient to wait 30 minutes when I'm hungry, hehe.

 

[starleomach]

One thing is I will have to find a way to make it look more apatizing otherwise Marshall will leave me LOL

 

[Essentia]

Just make sure to cut it up and put it over the rice before he sees it. That way he'll never know. lol

I am going to walmart tonight for other stuff so I am definitely picking up the stuff for this. I have so much soy sauce in my house that never gets touched, so this sounds perfect!

 

[mishalaa]

I'll have to try this, too. With ground turkey, it actually is pretty healthy. Sesame is not the worst oil out there and that is the only real fat in it other than the meat (if you're using beef, and even that can be lean). However, it may be pretty high in sodium with the soy sauce.

 

[eroomlorac]

I think it looks unappetizing to some steamed like that because instead of the juices/fat running off the meat it is all contained in the bowl. If you take it out of the metal bowl and it drain a little, I think it will look better. I wonder if you can cook it in a regular meatloaf pan. I have one of those pans that has a rack in it that let's the juices drain down below the meatloaf. Similar to this............
http://www.chefscatalog.com/product...006&srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=22-76533009-2

 

[Laurie]

Thanks Tab! You know how much I wanted this recipe woot! I'm making it this weekend!

 

[RDZCRanch]

I think it looks unappetizing to some steamed like that because instead of the juices/fat running off the meat it is all contained in the bowl. If you take it out of the metal bowl and it drain a little, I think it will look better. I wonder if you can cook it in a regular meatloaf pan. I have one of those pans that has a rack in it that let's the juices drain down below the meatloaf.

For a Chinese recipe it is all about the sauce. Draining it would take away the flavor and defeat the purposes of the sauces that were added in. I keep the sauce in and even pour it in the container when we put it away for left overs. Without the sauce it will lose a lot of the flavor.

 

[Snickers]

I showed my husband the picture of the cooked meatloaf and he said, "if I didn't tell him what is was he wouldn't touch it". It looks pretty simple to make. I'll TRY to make it sometime this month since I'm not a cook. I rather BBQ or go out to eat.

 

[Rickman]

Maybe Laurie will try it with SPAM - - - - - ?