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-500

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