Description
A traditional Taiwanese night market street food. A highly elastic, translucent dough made from sweet potato/tapioca starch encases Five-Spice pork, bamboo, and shiitake. It is steamed, low-temp fried, and drenched in a sweet-spicy sauce.
Restaurants serving Ba-wan (Taiwanese Giant Meatball)
Researching
We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Sweet potato starch
- Tapioca starch
- Pork
- Bamboo shoots
- Shiitake
- Five-Spice
- Sweet-spicy sauce
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- Dice pork, bamboo, and shiitake; fry with Five-Spice and soy.
- Knead sweet potato, tapioca, and rice flours with hot water into a highly elastic slime-like dough.
- Oil a bowl, line with dough, add filling, and seal with dough into a dome.
- Steam for
- mins until translucent.
- Before serving, soak in 100°C low-temp oil to maximize chewiness.
- Snip a cross with scissors, top with a pink sweet-spicy sauce and cilantro.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Astonishing elasticity of sweet potato starch and aroma of Five-Spice、五香粉の香り
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Dough ratio is difficult; recommend ordering at Taiwanese specialty shops)
Pairing
Fish Ball Soup / Taiwan Oolong Tea
Trivia
A national Taiwanese food that became a massive internet topic as the rumored model for the mysterious bouncy food the father eats in the movie Spirited Away.
Eating tips & etiquette
Use a fork to tear the ultra-chewy skin, mixing it heavily with the inner meat and sweet-spicy sauce. The texture is akin to mochi or slime with intense bounce.
Allergen
Pork, Soybeans, Wheat