Lion's Head Meatballs (狮子头)

One of the many dishes I miss eating, easily found in local noodles shops in shanghai.

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Recipe from https://thewoksoflife.com/lions-head-meatballs/

Prep Time: 40 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins

Seving: 8

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound fatty ground pork (450g)

• 1 slice ginger (8g, minced)

• 1 scallion (minced)

• 1 large egg

• 3 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs (25g)

• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/4 cup water

• 3.5 ounces water chestnuts (100g, canned)

• vegetable oil (to fry the meatballs)

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 2 slices ginger

• 2 scallions (cut into 2-inch lengths, white and green parts separated)

• 10 g rock sugar (or 2.5 packed teaspoons brown sugar)

• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

• 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce

• 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

• 1 1/2 cups water

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 1 tablespoon water)

• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

• baby bok choy (for serving, optional)

Instructions:

Make the meatballs:

• Make sure to find fatty ground pork. You can choose a fatty piece of pork shoulder and have the butcher grind it, or use our hand-chopping method to grind your own. A 70/30 meat to fat ratio is best, but 80/20 is also acceptable. Transfer the ground pork to a large mixing bowl.

• Add the minced ginger and scallions, egg, breadcrumbs, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, five spice powder, cornstarch, and water.

• Whip everything in one direction for about 10 minutes, until the meat mixture resembles a paste. This step is very important to making sure the meatballs have the right texture and don’t fall apart during frying.

• Smash the water chestnuts with the side of your cleaver or knife and finely mince them. Add to the meat mixture and continue to mix everything together for 5 more minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape everything together.

• Heat enough oil to submerge the meatballs in a small, deep pot (a small pot requires less oil) to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Just be sure there’s enough oil to cook the meatballs evenly, but that the oil will not overflow during frying.

• With oiled hands, divide the meat mixture into 8 to 9 equal portions and shape each into a ball. Carefully lower the meatballs one at a time into the heated oil, and fry in batches (2 minutes per batch) until they’re evenly golden brown. Remove the par-cooked meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Make the sauce & braise:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over low heat. Add the ginger and white parts of the scallions, and cook for 1 minute. Then add the sugar and cook until dissolved.

• Add 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce and 1 ½ cup water. Stir and bring the liquid to a boil.

• Once boiling, add the fried meatballs. Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes over medium/low heat, flipping the meatballs halfway through.

• After simmering, there should be about ¾ cup liquid left. Remove the meatballs from the liquid and arrange on your serving plate. (I served these with blanched baby bok choy. Just add a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil to boiling water for that “shiny” look, and blanch for 30 seconds).

• Mix your cornstarch slurry, and pour into the sauce to thicken. Once it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stir in ¼ teaspoon sesame oil and the green parts of the scallions. Once the scallions are wilted, drizzle the sauce over the meatballs.

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This was a good version but it wasn’t exactly like how I remembered it tasting in China. The texture of the meatball was good but not exactly perfect, it had a nice firm outer texture and it was soft and tender in the middle. I was told that i should have mixed it by hand and that the texture would then come out better than way, so I guess next time I will need to mix it all in the end by hand. The sauce was good but i felt as if something was missing. i will need to adjust and play around with this to make it just right to my tastings or i need to head back to china again to have the real thing to figure out what else i might need to do to get the right taste and texture.