“Lion’s head”, as local people call it, is a pork meatball dish from Huaiyang Cuisine in Eastern China. It got the name from the shape of the meatball which resembles the head of a Chinese Guardian Lion.
“Lion head” has two versions: red (cooked with soy sauce) and white/plain (stewed in bone stock). Usually, the meatball in the red version is smaller and fried in oil before being stewed with other ingredients, such as tofu, cabbage. It is a little ironic that, despite the fact that I grew up in that area, I almost never ate a plain “lion’s head” until I spent over 10 years in the US and returned to my hometown in 2019. That day, I decided to take my parents and one of my aunts to a well-known restaurant (Nanjing Da Pai Dang) who serves a lot of Huaiyang Cuisine dishes. I was amazed by the taste and texture. I was also puzzled by the fact that I never had this dish before.
A year later, I learned from a food critic that plain “lion head” is considered by him the most representative dish in Huaiyang Cuisine. Only then, did I decide to give it a try. I called a chef, Hong, in Nanjing. He explained to me over the phone, the ingredients and steps. I made several changes to Hong’s recipe/instructions. My “lion’s head” texture is not as good as the one from Da Pai Dang, but I decided it is good enough as a routine dish. By trying the dish myself I figured the plain “lion’s head” is more labor intensive than the red version. However, I like the plain version a lot better as it uses only salt and white pepper as seasonings. This keeps the original flavor of other ingredients. It also reminds me of my roots. I wish I could make this dish for my parents when the pandemic travel restriction is lifted, and I can travel again.
清炖狮子头(淮扬） Chinese "Lion's Head" Meatball Soup
Equipment
- 12“ stainless steel pot
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp white pepper powder
- 1 piece egg
- 1 tbsp starch
- 1 oz ginger root (optional)
- 2 piece scallion (optional)
- 1 liter bone stock or water
- 4-5 piece nappa cabbage leaves (optional)
- 1.5 oz water chestnut (optional)
Instructions
- Place the chopped scallion and ginger root in a small bowl. Add a cup of water to the bowl.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the ground pork, white pepper powder, salt, and a whole egg.
- Add the scallion/ginger infused water to the large mixing bowl. Squeeze the scallion/ginger to release extra juice to the mixing bowl.
- Use one hand to mix everything in the mixing bowl continuously in one direction (clockwise or counter clockwise) for 5 mins until the mixture is uniform and sticky.
- Scoop the mixture with both hands. Raise your hands about 12" above the mixing bowl. Drop the mixture with force into the bowl about 50-75 times. The mixture will be so sticky that it won't fall out when the mixing bowl turned upside down.
- Heat the stock(water) in the stainless steel pot to boil.
- Mix the starch with 3 tbsp of water in a small bowl.
- Scoop some pork mixture with one hand. Wet the other hand with the starch soup. Toss the meatball between your hands to make it round. The meatball should be about the size of a toddler's fist.
- Place the meatball into the boiling stock/water. Continue the process until the entire pork mixture is consumed.
- Rinse nappa cabbage leaves, and put them on top of the meatballs.
- Put the lid on. Bring the soup to boiling. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
Video
Notes
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