Gordon Ramsay’s pork and prawn balls are minced prawns mixed into pork mince with chives and ginger, rolled into ping-pong sized balls, fried golden and dropped into a star anise and ginger broth with soy, oyster sauce and spinach. Light, clean and done in 20 minutes.
The recipe is from his Ultimate Cookery Course, where Ramsay says “I’ve always been a fan of that surf ’n’ turf combination, seafood and meat, and these simple pork and prawn meatballs in a comforting broth make a great light lunch or supper dish.” The prawns go inside the meatball itself, not alongside it, which is what makes this different from anything in a Chinese takeaway. You can watch the full cook in his Pork and Prawn Balls video.
The key technique is frying the balls until golden before adding them to the broth. That sear locks the surface so they hold together in the simmering liquid instead of falling apart, and the caramelised pork crust adds a savoury depth to the broth as they finish cooking. Skip the fry and you get pale, soft meatballs that dissolve into mush.
Gordon Ramsay Pork and Prawn Balls
Course: DinnerCuisine: AsianDifficulty: Easy2
servings10
minutes10
minutes450
kcal20
minutesPork and prawn meatballs fried golden and simmered in a star anise and ginger broth with spinach and spring onion. The prawns are minced into the pork for a surf and turf meatball you will not find anywhere else. Light, clean, 20 minutes. Source: Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course (Hodder & Stoughton, 2012).
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
100g (3½ oz) raw prawns, peeled and deveined
250g (9 oz) minced pork
1½ tbsp finely chopped chives
1.5cm (½ inch) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flavourless oil (e.g. groundnut) for frying
For the broth:
1 litre (4 cups) chicken or fish stock
2 whole star anise
1-2 tsp oyster sauce, to taste
1-2 tsp soy sauce, to taste
2cm (¾ inch) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
To finish:
2 big handfuls of spinach
1 spring onion, trimmed and finely sliced
Directions
- Make the meatball mix: Finely chop the prawns until almost minced. Place in a bowl with the pork mince, chives and diced ginger. Season with salt and pepper and mix until everything is well combined and sticking together.
- Roll the balls: With wet hands, roll the mixture into small balls about 2.5cm (1 inch) wide, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.
- Make the broth: Pour the stock into a saucepan and add the star anise, oyster sauce, soy sauce and chopped ginger. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Fry the balls: Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the pork and prawn balls for 3-4 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown on all sides.
- Simmer in the broth: Transfer the fried balls to the simmering broth and cook for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.
- Add spinach and serve: Stir in the spinach and let it wilt for 30 seconds. Ladle into bowls and top with finely sliced spring onion.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay mince the prawns into the pork?
The prawn meat breaks down as you chop it and binds into the pork, so every bite has that sweet shellfish flavour running through it rather than being a separate ingredient you find in one mouthful and miss in the next. Ramsay calls it “surf ’n’ turf” because the combination of seafood and meat in every single ball is the whole point.
If you left the prawns whole or in chunks they would overcook in the time it takes the pork to cook through. Mincing them means they cook at the same rate as the mince, so nothing goes rubbery.
Why fry the balls before adding them to the broth?
Two reasons. First, the golden crust seals the surface so the balls hold their shape in the simmering liquid instead of falling apart. Second, that caramelised layer adds savoury depth to the broth as the balls finish cooking, so the broth gets richer without you adding anything extra.
Ramsay says in the video to fry them “until golden then transfer to the bubbling broth.” If you skip the fry and poach them raw, they hold together less reliably and the broth stays thin and pale.
How do you know when the balls are cooked through?
After 5-6 minutes simmering in the broth they should be firm to the touch and completely white in the centre with no pink remaining. Cut one in half to check if you are unsure. The prawn pieces inside will have turned from grey to pink and opaque.
The balls are small enough at 2.5cm that they cook quickly, which is why Ramsay can promise the whole dish in 20 minutes. If you make them larger they will need longer in the broth and the outside will overcook before the centre is done.
Can you make the balls ahead and freeze?
Yes. Roll them, lay them on a tray lined with parchment so they are not touching, and freeze until solid. Transfer to a bag and they will keep for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen by adding an extra 2-3 minutes to the simmering time. No need to thaw first.
The broth can be made ahead too and reheated when you are ready to cook. The only thing that needs to be fresh is the spinach, which wilts in 30 seconds at the end.
What goes alongside this?
A bowl of fragrant fried rice with egg and spring onion is the natural match because you can ladle the broth over the rice and eat it as a proper Asian soup bowl. Plain steamed jasmine rice works too, but the fried rice adds texture that the soft meatballs and silky broth do not have on their own.
On its own it is a light supper. With rice underneath it becomes a full dinner.
What if you want a richer, creamier broth?
Ramsay has a second meatball broth recipe in the same book: meatballs in coconut broth with lemongrass, cardamom, turmeric and lime. That version uses beef meatballs and coconut milk, which makes the broth thick and creamy rather than the clean, light star anise broth here.
Both are from the Ultimate Cookery Course. This one is the lighter weeknight version. The coconut version is heavier and richer if you want something more substantial.
