Braised Lion's Head 紅燒獅子頭

🧂 Ingredients

• 500 g Ground pork

  I used regular ground pork that is approx. 20% fat. Traditional recipes may call for up to 50% fat. The more fat, the smoother the texture
• 20 g Ginger
• 60 g Green onions

  (2-4 stalks)
• 100 ml Broth
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• ¼ tsp White pepper powder
• 2 tsp Corn starch
• 3 tbsp Oil

  for pan-frying the meatballs
• 1½ - 2 lbs Napa cabbage
• 2 tsp Light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 4 tsp Corn starch
• 1 c Broth

Instructions

• 1 Slice ginger and cut one stalk of green onion into 1 ½ “ pieces and place in a
  bowl
• 2 Bring ½ cup broth to a boil in a small pot, add 20g sliced ginger, add 60g green
  onion pieces and turn off heat. Cover with a lid and let sit for ½ hour.  To
  make sure you still have around a ½ cup of broth after it boils, turn off the
  heat as soon as it starts to boil.
• 3 Chop the remaining stalk of green onion and set aside
• 4 Place the ground pork on a chopping board and chop for 5 minutes to increase its
  viscosity
• 5 Transfer the ground pork to a larger mixing bowl
• 6 Add 1 tsp of salt into the ground pork and stir with your fingers in one
  direction for 2 minutes
• 7 Add ¾ of the chopped green onions, 1 egg, 2 tsp cooking wine, ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp
  white pepper powder and 2 tsp corn starch to the meat mixture and mix well
• 8 Remove the ginger and green onions from the broth and use the it to infuse into
  the ground pork.  We will call this the ginger green onion broth
• 9 Pour approx 20 ml (a little more than a tablespoon) of the ginger green onion
  broth into the ground pork mixture and stir with your fingers in one direction
  until the liquid is absorbed into the meat. Continue to do this until you use up
  all the ginger green onion broth
  
  Your meat mixture should now be fairly sticky 
• 10 Gather all the meat into one hand and drop into the mixing bowl.  Do this about
  20 times You don’t need to drop it too far away.  5-6 inches away from the
  bottom of the bowl should be good.  This creates elasticity so that the
  meatballs will not fall apart during braising
• 11 Divide the meat into 4 equal portions
• 12 Heat a pan and add 3 tbsp oil
• 13 Form each of the meat portions into balls and throw them from your left hand to
  your right hand (hands being 2-3 inches apart) 10 times to ensure that they will
  stick together If your meatballs are falling apart, you probably didn’t create
  enough viscosity so you may want to use another bowl and throw your meatball
  into it a few more times
• 14 Place each meatball into the pan You don’t want to cook it through, you just
  want to sear it on 2 sides. And yes, they will not exactly be sphere-shaped…but
  it’s rustic! If you want it sphere-shaped, you’ll have to deep fry the meatballs
• 15 Turn off the heat when both sides are seared
• 16 Wash then dry the napa cabbage and leave them in large leaf pieces
• 17 Place 2-3 layers of cabbage on the bottom of the pot
• 18 Place the meatballs on top of the cabbage  Don’t worry if the cabbage layer
  looks thick.  The cabbage will shrink in size substantially when cooked.  Some
  people believe the cabbage is the most delicious part of this dish because it
  absorbs flavors of the meat and seasonings
• 19 Sprinkle ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp soy sauce onto the meatballs 
• 20 Cover the meatballs with another 2-4 layers of napa cabbage If your napa cabbage
  doesn’t fit in the pot, you can add the remaining after it starts boiling (step
  #17) since the cabbage in the pot would have shrunk a bit by then
• 21 Sprinkle another ½ tsp salt on the top layer of the napa cabbage
• 22 Add 1 cup of broth and mix well and pour into the pot
• 23 Cover the pot with the lid and cook at high heat until it boils and then turn
  the heat down to low and cook for 1½ hours. Since pots and burners are all
  different, be sure to check every 30 minutes to make sure that the liquids
  aren't evaporating too quickly causing the vegetables on the bottom to burn. Add
  more water if necessary or reduce cooking time
  
  No need to stir or flip during the cooking time.
• 24 After 1 ½ hours, in a small bowl, add 4 tsp cornstarch to 2 tbsp of water to
  make the slurry and mix well
• 25 Place the napa cabbage and lion’s heads onto a serving dish, leaving the broth
  in the pot
• 26 Pour the slurry into the broth and stir until thickened. Pour the thickened
  broth onto the lion’s head
• 27 Sprinkle the remaining chopped green onions on top of the lion’s heads and serve

Nutrition Info