Cook: Lion's Head Meatballs (Chinese Style)
If you’re looking for a new spin on meatballs, give this recipe a try. It’s great for a number of reasons. If Asian cooking is new to you, this recipe will bring many Asian pantry staples into your home that you can use over and over again. Unlike traditional Italian style meatballs, a sauce is mixed in prior to cooking. This creates super bold flavors and the most juicy texture. The other great thing about these is they are delicious paired with rice or veggies and store well so you can make a batch and save some for another meal.
The ingredient list might look long but don’t be intimidated! Don’t worry if you can’t find all the ingredients, substitutions work for almost everything here. Leave a comment if you have questions about where to find the ingredients or what they are. You can also check out my post about Asian cooking ingredients if you need a visual of what to find at the store.
Because these meatballs are traditionally prepared to be much larger than a normal meatball and since they are usually surrounded by leafy greens, they take on the shape of a lion’s head with a mane. This is where they get their name, they’re often thought to resemble the foo dogs you see in Chinatown structures!
Serves: This recipe makes about 14-18 meatballs depending on how large you make them.
Prep Time: 45 minutes, Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Meatball Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of ground pork (pick a fattier mix, 70/30 is perfect, the more lean the less juicy)
4 tbsp of Shaoxing wine
3 tbsp of soy sauce (light soy sauce is preferable, but only if you have it)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper (white pepper is preferable but use black pepper if you don’t have any)
1-2 tsp ginger (minced)
1/2 cup scallions (very thinly sliced)
1 tbsp cornstarch (you don’t need to mix it with water)
1 cup white/yellow onion (the traditional recipes use water chestnuts, try that if you’d like)
2 eggs
1 cup panko (Japanese style breadcrumbs)
1-2 tbsp sesame oil (depending on the meatball consistency)
peanut oil for cooking
Sauce: The sauce is optional and this recipe explains how to make the meatballs braised in this particular sauce but you can also omit the sauce and cook without if that’s your preference. If omitting, you can just braise them in chicken or beef stock.
1 tbsp veg/peanut oil
2 slices of ginger
2 scallions (white ends chopped off, green ends minced and used for garnish)
1 piece rock sugar (or 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar if you don’t have rock sugar)
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce (or 2 tbsp dark soy sauce)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch with tbsp water (mix to create a slurry)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Eat with: bok choy, Chinese broccoli, steamed white or brown rice, or eat the meatballs on their own!
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the pork, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, white pepper, ginger, scallions and cornstarch. A thick rubber spatula works best.
Add in the chopped onions and eggs. Stir into the mixture with the spatula.
Mix in your panko crumbs and sesame oil. Gently combine all the ingredients. At this point, you’ll want to determine if the meatballs are the right texture. They should feel heavier and more moist than a regular Italian style meatball. This is correct! They also need to be able keep their form once you shape into a ball. If you find them to be super runny, add in more panko breadcrumbs.
Using a scale or measuring cup, scoop out 1/3 to 1/4 of the mixture and form into balls. I used my scale and measured them out to about 98 grams each. I prefer them larger in size so it made 14. If you like them smaller you can get 16-20 out of this amount of ingredients.
In a frying pan, heat up your neutral oil. Around 350 degrees is optimal temperature. Many recipes will advise you to fully submerge and fry these, but I’ve found it’s just as easy to brown them by flipping them about halfway through (1 minute or so). Total browning time should be about 2-3 minutes. You just want to get them nice and brown on the outside.
After you’ve browned all the meatballs, place them on a paper towel lined plate.
Heat up oil in your wok, add in ginger, the white part of the scallions and rock sugar. This is called unleashing your aromatics!
After the rock sugar has dissolved, add in the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and water. Bring this to a boil.
Once the mixture is boiling, add in your meatballs. Cover the wok and cook for 15 minutes. Flip them half way through and braise with the sauce a few times during the process.
Once the balls have been cooked, remove them and mix in your cornstarch slurry. This will help thicken the sauce and once everything is plated you’ll pour it over the meatballs, rice and veggies!
If you’re eating with rice and veggies, place the meatballs on top and pour your sauce over. Top with the sliced green parts of the scallions and enjoy!
This how they should look after the round of quick frying them. Nice, brown and round!
Pour some of the sauce over the meatballs as they cook in the wok. Only 15 minutes of braising time is necessary!