"Lion's Head" meatballs - 狮子头

I knew nothing about "Lion's head" meatballs before I met J. Ever since I met him, he has been raving about this particular dish that he had when he lived in China a few years ago. After he talked so much about this dish, he finally took me to a Shanghainese restaurant in town a few months ago to try it out. Well, I have to say that my first Lion's Head dish didn't leave any particular impression on me. Probably because we had a table fulled of wonderful dishes at that time. :)

I have this lovely cookbook from Williams Sonoma - Savoring China with Lion's Head recipe in it. I gathered all the ingredients needed last weekend and decided to give it a try tonight! Actually I would suggest you to try it when you have at least 1 1/2 hour. I made it in a rush tonight as I didn't start until ~6pm (after work).

My Lion's Head dish came out as yummy as what I expected... The meatballs were well-cooked with Chinese rice wine, soy sauce and the chicken stock. The napa cabbage's sweetness complimented the savory taste of the soy-sauce coated meatballs. Yum... It was delicious.


Adapted from Willian Sonoma - Savoring China cookbook
Yields ~10 medium size meatballs
Ingredients:
1.5 lb minced pork (preferred fatty pork)
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
1/3 cup finely chopped water chestnut
2 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic
cornstarch
soy sauce
3/4 of medium size napa cabbage - roughly chopped
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chicken or beef stock (heated)
1/4 cup Chinese rice wine
salt
pepper

Method:
1) Combine and mix well ground pork with chopped green onion, chopped water chestnut, ginger and garlic.
2) Add 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to 1). Mix thoroughly.
3) Divide the mixture into ~10 medium size meatballs.
4) In a bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a creamy paste, adding water if needed.
5) In a deep pan (preferred wok), heat the oil. One at a time, coat the meatballs in the soy sauce-cornstarch mixture and slip into the hot oil. Fry, turning as needed until the surface is lightly browned. Transfer the balls to a plate.
6) Add the napa cabbage to the hot oil and fry briefly just until wilted.
7) Add meatballs to the wok with cabbage.
8) Add heated chicken or beef stock, rice wine, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a dash of pepper.
9) Cover with a lid for ~30 minutes in low-medium heat
10) Before serving, add a teaspoon of corn starch to the wok to thicken the gravy.

Serves ~4-8 ppl