Chinese Lion Head

Pane-Bistecca

Chinese Lion Head or Chinese lion’s head, or braised meatball is a dish from the Huaiyang cuisine of eastern China, consisting of large pork or beef meatballs braised with vegetables.

The name “lion’s head” is derived from the shape of the meatball, which is said to resemble the head of the Chinese guardian lion. The dish has its origins in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. With the influx of immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the dish became part of Shanghai cuisine.

I had it for the first time at a Chinese friend’s house and it was so delicious! This dish is part of Culinary World Tour from Volkermampft, because this month we are traveling to China!

Prep time

20 min

Cooking time

2 h 30 min

Portions

Total time

2 h 50 min

Ingredients

1 Cabbage
600 g ground Pork
5 tbsp cold Water
2 cm Ginger, grated
some Salt
3 tbsp Soy Sauce (gluten-free)
2 tbsp Rice Wine
1 tsp brown Sugar
2 1/2 tbsp Cornstarch
3 tbsp Water
3 tbsp Oil
500 ml Broth or more

Instructions

Step 1

Remove the cabbage leaves and wash well. Leave to drain.

Step 2

Place the meat in the blender and mix on speed 1. Gradually add the 5 tablespoons of cold water until the meat is a homogeneous mass. Now mix in the salt, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger and sugar.

Step 3

Mix the 3 tbsp water with the cornstarch. Make 4 balls from the mixture and turn these balls in the starch and water mixture, then fry well on all sides in the oil and set aside.

Step 4

Fry the cabbage leaves in the same wok until they are half cooked.

Step 5

Place half of the cabbage leaves in a greased casserole dish, then place the 4 meat balls on top and cover with the remaining cabbage leaves. There is no need to wrap the meat in the cabbage, as the cabbage leaves will shrink to the meat during cooking.

Step 6

Pour in the oil from the wok and the stock and roast in the oven at 180 C for 20 minutes.

Step 7

Then reduce the heat to 160 C degrees and roast for another 2 hours. You may need to add a little water so that nothing burns. If some liquid remains, you can thicken it with cornstarch and serve. Lion head is often served with a white sauce.