Lion’s Head Meatballs

We will be posting ahead of time today due to a group themed post from World in a Plate. What is World in a Plate?

World on a plate is a blogging cultural exchange. On the last Sunday of the month, bloggers from all over the world get together to interpret a food through the lens of their home country cooking. Each blogger will produce a wonderful dish featuring the food chosen that is typical of her/his home country and will tell us about the dish. For this month group post, we will be featuring meatballs. Please click on the link below to find out how meatballs are prepared in different parts of the world and here is my contribution, the Lion’s Head meatballs.

Lion’s head Meatballs is a dish that is made to depict Lions head so don’t freak out just yet as it’s made out of pork and not lions. This Eastern Chinese dish is made out of enormous pork meatballs stewed with vegetables. There are two versions: first, the plain one where meatballs are stewed or steamed with Napa cabbages and second, the red version where it is cooked with cabbage, bamboo shoots and/or tofu in a soy-sauce-based sauce. The minced meat used in this dish is the fatty variant giving it that unique gelatinous texture. The large meatball resembles lion’s head and the chinese cabbage as its mane. It originated from Jiangsu province and it became and a part of Shanghai cuisine with the influx of migrants during the late 19th to early 20th century.

A really unique meatball dish which was recently introduced to me here in New Zealand by one of my close Chinese friend. It is simple and a good variation to the common meatball dishes.

Ingredients (Meatballs)

700 g minced pork (30-35% fat)
1 egg
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 spring onions (white part), finely chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cornstarch
white pepper

Ingredients (Sauce)

6 thin slices of ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 pcs star anise
2 spring onions (white part only)
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup Chinese cooking wine
4 cups chicken stock
peanut oil
1 tbsp cornstarch

Ingredients (Other)

6 pcs Chinese cabbage leaves, halved lengthwise
rice flour

Method

1. Place meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix them well. Once evenly mixed form into huge meatballs.
2. Dust each meatball with rice flour then deep fry in batches until golden brown in colour. Set it aside.
3. In a wok, add peanut oil then sauté garlic, ginger and star anise.
4. Add sugar and stir fry until it caramelizes.
5. Pour stock, soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine then bring to a boil. Once boiling lower to simmering heat then add the meatballs. Simmer for 1 hour.
6. Mix cornstarch with 3 tbsp water then pour it into the sauce to thicken.
7. Blanch Chinese cabbage then wrap each meatball with a piece of Chinese cabbage. Place in a plate or bowl then pour the sauce on top.