These braised pork meatballs have the official name of braised lion’s head 紅燒獅子頭 (hóng shāo shī zi tóu). 紅燒 (hóng shāo) is a specific Chinese braising technique that consists of first browning the meat and then adding rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, water and other aromatics such as ginger, garlic and/or shallots. You then cover with a lid and cook at a low temperature until the meat is tender and has absorbed all the flavours of the vegetables and the aromatics.
Braised lion’s head 紅燒獅子頭 is a traditional Shanghai dish that originated in the Sui Dynasty, around 1500 years ago, when it was called 四喜丸子(sì xǐ wán zi), “4 Fondness Balls” or 大肉丸 (dà ròu wán) “Big Meat Balls”. It was during the Tang Dynasty that some started calling it a “lion’s head” because of its large size and the vegetables cooked with it looks like the lion’s mane. Each generation or village has their own lion's head recipe. Some would add water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, tofu, dried scallops, dried shrimp or even tomatoes. But one consistency is that the meat should melt in your mouth or 入口容 (rù kǒu róng).
The recipe that I’m sharing is a very straight-forward one. Ground pork and napa cabbage are the only main ingredients. The meatballs are traditionally deep-fried so they can have a sphere shape. I have chosen to pan-fry it to reduce the amount of oil used. However, I do have to sacrifice the sphere-shape for a more deflated ball shape, which I’ll just call rustic! This dish is definitely a family favourite. Who wouldn’t like meatballs that are soft and smooth like tofu smothered in a light and slightly sweet soy sauce? The vegetables pretty much melts into the sauce. This dish goes perfectly with steamed rice. If there are leftovers, you can break up the meatballs and add mung bean vermicelli to create a brand new dish. But don’t count on leftovers….they are that good!
Looking for another dish to add to dinner? Check out my recipes for Honey Soy Chicken 蜜汁豉油雞扒 or Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken 鹽酥雞.
Braised Lion's Head 紅燒獅子頭
Ingredients
Ingredients for the lion heads (meatballs):
- 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
Ingredients for braising:
- 1½ - 2 lbs Napa cabbage
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4 tsp Corn starch
- 1 c Broth
Instructions
- Slice ginger and cut one stalk of green onion into 1 ½ “ pieces and place in a bowl
- 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. - Chop the remaining stalk of green onion and set aside
- Place the ground pork on a chopping board and chop for 5 minutes to increase its viscosity
- Transfer the ground pork to a larger mixing bowl
- Add 1 tsp of salt into the ground pork and stir with your fingers in one direction for 2 minutes
- 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
- 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
- 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 - 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 - Divide the meat into 4 equal portions
- Heat a pan and add 3 tbsp oil
- 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 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 - Turn off the heat when both sides are seared
- Wash then dry the napa cabbage and leave them in large leaf pieces
- Place 2-3 layers of cabbage on the bottom of the pot
- 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 - Sprinkle ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp soy sauce onto the meatballs
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 - Sprinkle another ½ tsp salt on the top layer of the napa cabbage
- Add 1 cup of broth and mix well and pour into the pot
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. - After 1 ½ hours, in a small bowl, add 4 tsp cornstarch to 2 tbsp of water to make the slurry and mix well
- Place the napa cabbage and lion’s heads onto a serving dish, leaving the broth in the pot
- Pour the slurry into the broth and stir until thickened. Pour the thickened broth onto the lion’s head
- Sprinkle the remaining chopped green onions on top of the lion’s heads and serve
Looks delicious! I have a question though. So the broth you make at the beginning is slowly being incorporated unto the meat mixture, but what broth do i use to braise them in?
Hi Rose, you can use any broth. The one that you incorporate into the meat has the ginger and green onion infused in it. And the one for the sauce (or braising liquid) can be the same broth or different or even just water and chicken broth powder. Oh, and I've found that putting a piece of napa cabbage on the very bottom can prevent the sauce from getting burnt on the bottom of the pot. Hope this helps! Happy cooking!
This is the most authentic Taiwan style lion's head meatball recipe. I'm so happy I found this recipe!! It was so delicious.