Melt-in-Your Mouth Lions Head 狮子头
Celebrating Chinese New Year
Family tradition and secret recipe
Lion’s head meatballs 狮子头 is the holy grail of our family’s Chinese culinary tradition. Every time we visited China, the first meal waiting for our kids at their Chinese grandparents’ home always featured melt-in-your mouth lion’s head meatballs, lovingly prepared days ahead by their grandmother 外婆.
My parents come from the town of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province 江苏镇江, famous for its fine dining. The locals are particularly proud of their 狮子头 (or 沾肉 as they are called locally) being the tenderest meatballs in China. The local folklore tells of how everyone else’s meatballs fail the tenderness test: They fall apart when tossed over the town gate—tough and no good indeed. The secret to these melt-in-your mouth tenderness is fat and bread crumbs. It turns out such wisdom is also shared by other cuisines. For example, celebrity chef Mario Batali’s Italian meatballs calls for pork and bread crumbs. When I saw his recipe, I nodded with knowing approval. Yet too many other recipes, Chinese or not (Cooks Illustrated included) seem to churn out endless tough meatballs.
For whatever reason, I have never made 狮子头, nor did I remember to get the family recipe from my mom. When I searched in vain in my recipe files, CC#1 proudly produced her copy straight from 外婆 (see her notes below in Chinese). CC# says she trusts 外婆 more than Grandpa 外公” who was known to talk a good piece when it comes to meal preparation but 外婆 had always been the family chef. With minor modifications, I finally made my version of 狮子头 during this Chinese New Year. #CC2 gushed, “This tastes just right and I feel that I am back to China!” Since the pandemic, we have not been able to return to China for three years.
Ingredients:
1,000g pork belly and pork loin, aim fat to lean ratio of 50/50
2 slices of store-bought sourdough sandwich bread
2 bunches of scallions
1 whole piece of ginger, please extra ginger slices
5g salt
Water
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp miso paste
1/4 cup Shaoxing cooking wine
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsp water
1 head Nappa cabbage
2 chicken drumsticks (lightly salted and refrigerated for 1-2 days)
Dried tofu skin 腐竹, dried shiitake mushrooms, and dried bamboo shoots (fresh bamboo if available), soaked in cold water for 24 hours
Bamboo mat (I used sushi mats) shaped to fit the bottom of stew pot
Instructions:
Cut pork belly and pork loin by hand first into thin strips and then into small pieces, the size of pomegranates. Eye-ball to maintain a 50/50 fat to lean meat ration while cutting the meat. I used about 250g of pork loin which is all lean meat. Chop slightly to achieve evenness. Important rule: Cut fine but chop light, especially the fat pieces cannot be chopped fine.
Cut scallion and ginger into smallish pieces and grind in food processor with 1/4 cup of water into fine paste.
Use hand or cheese cloth to squeeze out the juice from scallion ginger paste to add to meat. Add some water to make up 1/4 cup. Optional: throw the whole thing into meat—you will likely taste the scallion and ginger pieces.
Grind sourdough bread into fine crumbs
Add bread crumbs, cooking wine, salt, and ginger scallion juice to chopped meat, and mix in counter-clock direction until incorporated
Make round meat patties, tossing from hand to hand for 3-4 times
Use one hand to scoop up some wet cornstarch to coat meat patties evenly
Fry in 2-3 tbsp oil until both sides are golden brown (you will not need too much oil as some fat in meatballs will leach out so you will have more oil than you start with)
Fried meat patties can be refrigerated or frozen at this point
Use a wide bottomed pot to compete lion’s head. Traditionally we use clay pots so I used the Emile Henry clay pot which is lead free.
Lay the bottom of pot with bamboo mat. The key is not to burn the bottom as the meatballs will need to be braised for 3-4 hours on very low heat so the flavor will meld. 外公 always insisted that pine needles should be used but 外婆never made this way before so I am sticking to bamboo mat.
Next lay dried tofu skin pieces, bamboo pieces, and dried mushrooms (chopped roughly)
Nestle meat patties and chicken legs on the next layer
Add soy sauce, more Shaoxing wine, miso paste, and ginger slices next
Add enough water to cover meat patties half way
Tuck in whole Nappa cabbage leaves (overlapping) to cover meatballs, 3-4 layers
Bring to boil and reduce to lowest heat and stew for 3-4 hours, check from time to time so as not to dry out
