There are many different style of cooking in China. Around 8 different cooking styles have been identified and each one is unique. Lion’s head pork meatballs recipe comes from Yangchow, province of Kiangsu, which is in Eastern China.
Superior Chinese dish…
Chinese people like to use words like “dragon”, “phoenix” or “lion” to describe high-quality products. Lion is known as the king of the jungle so to use it’s name in a dish means that the dish is of high quality and large in size. In this dish, the lion’s head is represented by the large pork meatballs sitting on a bed of Chinese cabbage.
Traditionally, lion’s head pork meatballs is served on New Year’s Day, although it can be served at other times of the year too. If it is served on New Year Day then four meatballs should be made to symbolise luck, prosperity, longevity and happiness.
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Lion’s Head Pork Meatballs Recipe
- 500g Mince Pork
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- ½ tbsp ginger (minced)
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1tbsp of shoaxing wine
- 2 spring onions (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1tbsp of cornflour
- 1 tbsp of oil
- 1 Chinese cabbage (quartered lengthwise)
- 150ml of chicken stock
- Add pork, garlic, ginger, salt, wine, onions, soy sauce and sugar. Mix it all together
- Add the cornflour to the mixture and mix it all together really well.
- Shape the mixture into 7 equally sized meatballs. Set aside.
- Cut the Chinese cabbage quartered lengthenwise. Set aside
- Brown the meatballs on all side. You may need to fry in batches of two. Set aside.
- Place the cabbage on the bottom of a wok. Pour over the chicken stock and place the meatball on top of the cabbage.
- Cover the wok. Bring it to boil and simmer for 30 mins.
02. Steaming all the meatballs together in the wok is fine.
03. Gluten-free: Swap the shoaxing wine for dry sherry
Don’t let the title put you off. It’s a very straight forward dish to make and takes very little effort. It’s just a shame that this dish is not more widely available in the restaurants here.
This dish can also be steamed if you don’t like the thought of frying it. If you do decide to steam it then I would advise you to add just a little more salt to the mixture. I have found out when I steam it, the salt tends to evaporate more quickly and the meatball taste just a little bit bland.
This Recipe is:
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