Wanja is one of the few dishes that I’m including in my Korean Food Project that I have not previously sampled while in Korea. I just saw some recipes in a book, thought they looked good and decided to try them. There are two ways to eat wanja meatballs: fried and dipped in vinegar-soy sauce or boiled in broth, like a Korean version of Italian Wedding Soup. The first type of wanja is larger than the second type and also contains tofu. I have included recipes for both dishes below.
Wanja Jeon (Fried Meatballs) — 완자전
Makes 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- ½ lb. ground beef or finely chopped beef
- 1 package firm tofu
- 1 scallion stalk, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbs. sesame oil
- Dash of black pepper
- 4 Tbs. flour*
- 2 extra-large eggs, beaten
- Sesame oil
*If you want to make this recipe gluten free, you can use all-purpose gluten-free flour.
Steps
- Squeeze out excess liquid from the tofu.** Crumble tofu into small pieces with hands. Place in large bowl.
- Add chopped beef.
- Add remaining ingredients (scallions, garlic, 1 Tbs. oil). Mix well.
- Shape beef and tofu mixture into 2-inch balls and flatten the balls into patties.
- Dip patties in flour and then in egg.
- Add a small amount of oil to frying pan. Fry patties until brown and done on both sides.
- Serve with vinegar-soy sauce (see recipe below).
**I did this by sandwiching the block of tofu between two cutting boards and squeezing the boards together.
Vinegar-Soy Sauce
Makes 4 or 6 servings
Ingredients
- 4 or 6 Tbsp. soy sauce***
- 4 or 6 Tbsp. vinegar
- 1 1/3 or 2 Tsp. sugar or honey
***I used San-J Organic Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (available at Whole Foods or for $6.69 + shipping on Amazon.com
Steps
- Combine ingredients. Mix well.
- Put 2 Tbsp. of sauce into individual dishes for dipping.
From Korean Cooking (now out of print) by Seun Hi Yang
Wanja Guk (Meatball Soup) — 완자국
Ingredients
- ½ lb. ground beef or finely chopped beef
- 1 extra-large egg, beaten
- 5 ounces sweet potato starch noodles (about half a package)****
- 3 Tbs. flour*
*If you want to make this recipe gluten free, you can use all-purpose gluten-free flour.
****You can buy these noodles in Asian grocery stores. They are sold dry, in a large bag. Look for the words “sweet potato starch” in the ingredients list. See photo above.
Mixture A:
- 1 Tbs. soy sauce***
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 scallion stalk, chopped
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- Dash of black pepper
***To make this recipe gluten free, I used San-J Organic Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (available at Whole Foods or for $6.69 + shipping on Amazon.com
Mixture B:
- 2 Tbs. soy sauce***
- 1 scallion stalk, chopped
- 1 Tbs. sesame seeds
- Dash of black pepper
- 8 cups of water
Steps
- Combine ground beef with Mixture A. Shape the meat into small balls, about ½-inch in diameter.
- Roll each ball in flour, then dip in beaten egg.
- Boil soup with Mixture B.
- Cut or break sweet potato noodles into 7-inch lengths. Put into boiling soup.
- Add meatballs into soup.
- Simmer 20 minutes.
- Ladle soup into bowls.
From Korean Home Cooking (now out of print) by Jun Ryun Wang