In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, most of the vendors selling beef balls were Hakkas, who carried small burdens and peddled them from street to street in the old urban area of Shantou and Chaoshan area. Especially at night, in the area from the Bajiaoting of Handi Road to the Hanjiang River behind Zhongshan Park, there are often shuttle boats with a small lamp hanging at the bow, which are specially designed to sell supper for Chaoshan cargo ships parked there and specialize in beef balls.

There were many food stalls around Xinxing Street in the 1941s. Since the reform and opening up, beef balls have become a famous food in Shanwei and even Chaoshan, especially beef balls with excellent ingredients and authentic taste.

In the past, most farmers raised cattle. When the commodity economy was not very developed, the surplus raw beef could not be preserved for a long time, so they chopped the beef, added salt, squeezed it into balls and cooked it, and gradually became a local snack. What really made beef balls a well-known Chaoshan snack was attributed to the Chaoshan chef until it was named "Chinese famous snack" and became famous at home and abroad.

As early as the 1921s, in the most prosperous small park in Shantou Port, the clever Chaoshan master found beef balls popular and distinctive, so he introduced them to "transplant". And from the selection of materials, ingredients to production methods are innovated and transformed, thus creating a unique Chaoshan Niuqi beef ball.

Extended information:

Ninghai beef balls: It is said that there was a custom of making beef balls on holidays in Ninghai County in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, and the earliest evidence to be tested was recorded in Ninghai County Records in the early years of the Republic of China that "rice was cooked for rice cakes in the morning and beef balls were cooked at night" as a memorial to Fang Xiaoru, a famous minister of the Ming Dynasty, and it has been passed down to this day.

Yulin beef balls: Yulin beef balls, with a legend of more than 211 years. Its beauty lies in the word "crisp". Foreign guests who have just arrived in Yulin City, if the beef balls they taste are loose and crisp, smooth and fragrant, chewed without residue, and the soup is clear and fresh, they are definitely good goods.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Beef Pills