Occasionally, new visitors make the mistake of thinking Chinese aren’t devout carnivores; after all, China has a pretty long history of Buddhism. But no, most Chinese love their meat. Even the sage himself, Confucius, was a meat-loving foodie and stated his meat preferences in the book The Analects (《论语》）. Frequently quoted as a unique perspective on culinary culture, Confucius said, “Rice can never be too refined and meat can never be minced too finely (食不厌精，脍不厌细).” According to this principle, the Chinese meatball, or wanzi (丸子), is the gold standard.

But, even if your morality or religion won’t let you enjoy the taste of meat, there’s no need to forego the delicacies of the wanzi. As always, tofu is the best substitute for the meat. Together with sliced carrots and starch noodles mixed with wheat flour and eggs, the tofu-made Beijing-style vegetarian wanzi has a fresh flavor, perhaps fresh enough to fool a few meat-lovers.

As a Beijing snack, the veggie wanzi has to be served and eaten hot. Crispy on the outside, tender and fresh on the inside, when your teeth bite into this golden ball, you could swear it was cooked with the finest dead animal, but you can rest easy and chew that tofu to your heart’s content.

Even with the veggie option, the Chinese meat ball is in a whole different ballpark when compared to, say, IKEA meatballs. Like just about every other Chinese dish, there is more than one recipe for wanzi. Frying, quick-boiling, stewing, red-braising—each method brings its own unique taste. Because of these different cooking methods, meatballs are divided into different categories.

Most folk might not know the difference between the “lion’s head”(狮子头)” and the “wanzi”, but the key is in the cooking: red-braised and stewed ones belong to the lion’s head category and the fried and quick-boiled are wanzi. A lion’s head meatball is as big as a human fist, but the wanzi is much smaller; some others even focus on geographical difference, saying that the southern meatballs are lion heads and the northern ones are wanzi. There is no conclusive answer.

The only thing that really matters is flavor. In true Beijing style, you’re gonna want cute little meatballs deep fried to a delicious golden finish.

Finely grate the carrot and chop the coriander. Pre-soak the starch noodles in cold water for an hour until they turn soft and then cut them into small pieces

Cut the tofu into slices and then into small cubes

Wrap the tofu cubes with a piece of gauze and then press the water out

Mix the carrot, coriander, starch noodles, and tofu pieces with egg and flour. Add salt, sugar, and white pepper powder. Mix them well

Roll the ingredients into small balls

Heat the oil to a boil and deep fry the balls until they turn golden. Usually ten to 15 seconds will be enough

Remove the balls and drain them on oil-absorbing kitchen paper, then serve hot

“Beijing-Style Veggie Meatballs” is a story from our newest issue, “Family”. To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the iTunes Store.