Lion's head meatballs (狮子头) are a holiday dish for many Chinese dishes. If you haven’t heard of Lion’s Head Meatballs, it’s definitely a dish you should try making at home. Ginormous pork meatballs simmered in a lip-smacking braising liquid that tenderizes and flavors the meat creating a luscious dish. The meatballs simply melt in your mouth while the vegetables blend beautifully into the sauce. It is served with blanched vegetables such as bok choy.
Don’t be alarmed by the name of the dish. No lion will be harmed in the making of these incredibly tasty morsels. We got lots of interesting names for Chinese dishes like mapo tofu, which actually is a lovely braised tofu with a Sichuan sauce, tiger skin peppers, sauteed peppers with soy sauce, and vinegar.
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What are Lion's Head Meatballs?
Braised lion’s head meatballs are large pork meatballs commonly served with vegetables whether napa cabbages or other leafy vegetables such as bok choy to create the lion head’s meatballs. My favorite serving way is to serve this with steamed rice.
First of all, it is a holiday food, mainly cooked for the Chinese new year because it contains lots of preparations and cooking time. In some areas of China, people cook lion's head meatballs for every Spring Festival. It is a dish that comes from Huaiyang cuisine, which is one of the eight cuisines of China. The Yangzhou creation steams the meatballs in a lighter-colored liquid in a clay sand pot. The Zhenjiang version is meatballs in a thick, brown sauce.
What's the size of Loin's head meatball
Well, loin's head meatball is quite large in size. It can range from 4 cm to 10 cm. The larger the meatball is, the longer cooking time will be needed.
Origin Stories- a long story to be told
The term lion's head meatballs come from the meatball's big size and Chinese guardian lion-looking (foo dog) shape. There are a handful of “origin” stories as to why the meatballs were called lion’s head but generally, it was thought the dish of meatballs surrounded by vegetables resembles that of a lion’s head.
Thought to have been developed for Emperor Yang during the Sui dynasty (589-618 CE), the palace chef turned minced meat into a pattern resembling golden sunflowers. It was reminiscent of the magnificent sights and recollections of the emperor's trips during the Grand Canal's building. Because most meats were slow-braised in whole cuts or barbecued during the period, the tedious dish was reserved for rare occasions.
During the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), the dish was purportedly named after Xun governor Li Chongyi. The victorious general had a lion’s head emblem on his flag relating to the dish of large meatballs with vegetables surrounding it.
Though these accounts have claimed the origin of the dish as part of Chinese history, the dish doesn’t appear definitively in the historical canon until the Qing Dynasty.
According to the Qing Barnyard Notes (Qing Bai Lei Chao), published and compiled by historian Xu Ke in Hangzhou, the lion's head meatball recipe known today during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 CE) is a pork meatball with a fifty-fifty ratio of fat to lean pork meat. The procedure and ingredients were also mentioned as follows:
- “Meat is chopped and combined with egg whites to allow for easy coagulation.
- Meatballs are formed as large as possible and placed in the clay pot.
- It is then covered with additional leaves.
- The meatballs are steamed in a wok filled with salt water over low heat (to avoid cracking the clay pot).
- Once the meat has cooked to medium, the heat is stoked fiercely to increase to high heat which will cook the meat to the desired doneness, which is usually well done.
- It was said that traditionally, napa cabbage or bamboo shoots are placed in a clay pot with brine (salt and water).
- Optional additions include shrimp flesh or crab powder.”
Main procedure for making loins' head meatballs
The process includes several parts, so I believe we may go through an outline first.
- Traditionally, hand-chopped minced pork is used. Chinees people have much faith in hand-chopped meat because this method can create some casual texture and thus gives the meatballs more layers of texture. But it is 100% ok to use store-bought ready minced pork.
- The pork is partnered with a side ingredient, sometimes lout root or water chestnut to increase the crumble texture and add a natural sweetness.
- Next, all the seasonings are added, like soy sauce, aromatics, sugar, and rice wine and then the pork mixture is either stirred or smashed against a big bowl to make it become sticky, fluffy, and quite plain in color. This is a unique Chinese method of preventing the meatball from drying and chewing. In other words, this can help to keep the meatball tender and juicy.
- Then shape the meatballs by hand followed by either a deep-frying method, which is a more traditional way, or a simmering method, which is much easier to operate at home. This process is to hold the shape of the meatball.
- Next, the meatballs are braised with typical braising ingredients until well flavored.
- At last, we make a thicker sauce with the braised sauce left in the wok, then pour the sauce on top of the meatballs. Assemble them with blanched vegetables and that's all.
Deep-frying method vs. Simmering Method
When cooking lion’s head meatballs, there are two common ways of holding the shape of the large, big size meatball. The first is simmering in water with a very faint fire. The second is to deep-fry in oil to help it get shape by firming the surface. If you want to reduce the oil used, you can pan-fry the meatballs, but the shape will not be round enough.
Main Ingredients
Minced Pork
The traditional lion’s head uses a large amount of fatty meat, even reaching 50% fat and 50% lean meat. While this may seem unheard of today because your neighborhood butcher will commonly have 80% meat - 20% fat at the ready. Or you can add some fat yourself to make the meatballs juicier. 3 vs 7 is my favorite ratio for this recipe. you’ll most certainly have a very smooth, juicy ball of meaty goodness based on this ratio.
Add-ons
There are a handful of different recipes for making minced meat. Lotus root, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, tofu, or dried scallops can be added to improve taste and texture. Be careful when adding too many additions because it may lead to losing the structural composition of the meatballs.
While ground pork is the main ingredient, we're adding chopped lotus roots and a hint of anise for added crunch, some sweetness, and spice to our meatballs. Once the lotus root is added to the mixture. and steamed, it will be less crisp and crunchy but will still offer a fantastic texture to the meatballs.
Adding egg and cornstarch to the minced meat mixture will boost the stickiness and tenderness of the meatballs too.
For convenience, the meatballs can be formed and refrigerated up to a day ahead of time. Place them in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet, but don't crowd them together. Refrigerate for up to 1 day, covered.
Seasoning and Flavoring
Classic seasonings for lion's head minced meat includes Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, salt & sugar. If for dietary reasons you can’t use Shaoxing rice wine, feel free to skip it. To flavor our meatballs, we only need soy sauce, oyster sauce, and salt.
Another recipe variation is to swap soy sauce with water and a teaspoon of salt instead which results in a lighter-colored broth. Shao xing wine can be substituted with Sherry or removed completely like in our recipe if you have none.
Vegetables
Aside from adding the "mane" aspect, the vegetable in our braised meal is employed to improve the taste. Napa cabbage or bok choy are the two most popular options.
Napa cabbage is used in the traditional recipe. Napa cabbage has a mellow, slightly sweet flavor. Though a braise generally works well with most leafy vegetables.
Also known as Chinese white cabbage, bok choy is a crunchy, emerald green cabbage that has a subtle cabbage-like flavor. Fresh, grassy, and with a slight peppery kick, the dark green leaves and crisp off-white-colored stalks provide color contrast to the braise aside from some amazing health benefits.
Instructions with Photos
Prepare your ingredients for the minced meat by measuring the sauces and condiments accordingly. Although not necessary according to the USDA, you may remove the blood from your meat by placing it in a colander and running it through cold water until the water becomes clear. Next, peel the skin off the lotus root. Chop the lotus root into thin slices. We don't want to lose the texture, so we simply chop them loosely, but the pieces can't be too huge or the structural integrity of the meatball would be compromised.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 300 grams of minced pork (with a 70% / 30% meat-to-fat ratio), a tablespoon of soy sauce, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, 3 dashes of ground black pepper, and 50 grams of chopped lotus root. Crack in a whole large egg.
Using your hands, mix together in one direction until the mixture becomes paste-like. Use your hands to do this step. Put on food-safe plastic or rubber gloves before getting in there. Take your time with this step to ensure that the meat will absorb all the liquid. The combination contains a lot of liquid, which is fine. Its major goal is to aid in the soft and moist texture of our meatballs. Constantly mix in one direction when mixing minced meat. A properly combined mixture will allow us to achieve the desired juicy texture of the meatball.
Next, add a tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix the cornstarch thoroughly into the mixture. Again, take your time in combining the ingredients until the minced meat mixture is completely sticky, fluffy, and light. You can use the smash against method shows in the video.
Check the viscosity of the minced meat mixture. The result should be sticky, very soft, a bit jiggly, and slightly firm. The right texture will ensure that the meatball will not fall apart when boiled at a hot temperature later on.
Now that the mixture is finished, we can set it aside and prepare to form the meatballs. Prepare a glass platter to place the formed meatballs on. Scoop a tablespoon of meat mixture into the palm of your hand. and roll it using your hands into a ball. It should be about 5 cm. in diameter.
Next, in a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Carefully lower the meatballs into the boiling water adding as many as comfortable, making sure not to overcrowd them. We’re blanching the meatballs in hot water to harden the surface of the ball and maintain its shape. Leave them to simmer for 10 minutes over low fire to firm up. Don’t let the water boil while the meatballs are simmering. Make sure there's just enough water to cover the meatballs.
When they’re fully cooked, remove the meatballs from the pot and set aside. It should look a bit pale. Reserve 600 ml. of the cooking water for use later.
Prepare your aromatics. Break or slice a centimeter thick ginger. Peel and then slice into thin slices. Cut one stalk of spring onion into short 1 ½ - 2-inch lengths. In a separate pan, heat up two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Saute the spring onions, ginger, and 1 whole star anise until fragrant.
Add in all of the 600 ml. reserved cooking water, two tablespoons of soy sauce and two teaspoons of dark soy sauce, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, two dashes of ground black pepper, and 20 grams of rock sugar. Stir to combine and then bring the mixture to a boil.
This is the finishing step to lock in our flavor. Then place the meatballs in. Simmer for around 20 minutes until ⅘ of the sauce is gone.
Once all the sides have browned up nicely and are well coated in the braising liquid, remove them from the pan. By this time, the sauce has already thickened and reduced by about ⅘. Blanch the bok choy in the remaining boiling water in the pot with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and a small pinch of salt to create a shiny sheen and to keep the green color.
Place the cooked meatballs in a serving dish. Repeat the procedure to finish braising the rest of the meatballs in the sauce. Scoop out the aromatics - ginger, scallions, and star anise from the sauce.
Prepare a cornstarch slurry by whisking together a tablespoon of cornstarch and cold water. Once dissolved, pour the mixture into the pan and stir. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reached your desired consistency.
We want a thick enough sauce for serving with the meatballs. To check, dip the back of the spoon in the sauce, if the sauce coats it perfectly, then the sauce is thick enough.
Then drizzle the sauce on top of the meatballs.
🧾Recipe
Lion's Head Meatballs
Ingredients
- bok choy
- water for simmering
Meatball
- 300 g minced pork, either hand chopped or store bought , around 2.5 cups
- ½ cup chopped lotus root
- 3 dashes white pepper
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
For braising the meatball
- 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 2 scallion
- 1 star anise
- 1 thumb ginger
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 2 tsp. dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 2 dashes white pepper
- 1.5 tbsp. rock sugar , around 20g
- ½ tbsp. cornstarch
Instructions
Make the meatball
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 300 grams of minced pork (with a 70% / 30% meat-to-fat ratio), a tablespoon of soy sauce, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, 3 dashes of ground black pepper, and 50 grams of chopped lotus root. Crack in a whole large egg.
- Using your hands, mix together in one direction until the mixture becomes paste-like. Use your hands to do this step. Put on food-safe plastic or rubber gloves before getting in there. Take your time with this step to ensure that the meat will absorb all the liquid. The combination contains a lot of liquid, which is fine. Its major goal is to aid in the soft and moist texture of our meatballs. Constantly mix in one direction when mixing minced meat. A properly combined mixture will allow us to achieve the desired juicy texture of the meatball.
- Next, add a tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix the cornstarch thoroughly into the mixture. Again, take your time in combining the ingredients until the minced meat mixture is completely sticky and light in color. You can also use the smash against method shows in the video.
- Check the viscosity of the minced meat mixture. The result should be sticky, very soft, a bit jiggly, and slightly firm. The right texture will ensure that the meatball will not fall apart when boiled at a hot temperature later on.
- Now that the mixture is finished, we can set it aside and prepare to form the meatballs. Prepare a glass platter to place the formed meatballs on. Scoop a tablespoon of meat mixture into the palm of your hand. and roll it using your hands into a ball. It should be about 5 cm in diameter.
Simmer to hold the shape
- Next bring water to a boil. Carefully lower the meatballs into the boiling water adding as many as comfortable, making sure not to overcrowd them. We’re blanching the meatballs in hot water to harden the surface of the ball and maintain its shape. Leave them to simmer for 10 minutes over low fire to firm up. Don’t let the water boil while the meatballs are simmering. Make sure there's just enough water to cover the meatballs.
Braise the lion's head meatball
- When they’re fully cooked, remove the meatballs from the pot and set aside. It should look a bit pale. Reserve 600 ml. of the cooking water for use later.Prepare your aromatics. Break or slice a centimeter thick ginger. Peel and then slice into thin slices. Cut one stalk of spring onion into short 1 ½ - 2-inch lengths. In a separate pan, heat up two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Saute the spring onions, ginger, and 1 whole star anise until fragrant.
- Add in all of the 600 ml. reserved cooking water, two tablespoons of soy sauce and two teaspoons of dark soy sauce, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, two dashes of ground black pepper, and 20 grams of rock sugar. Stir to combine and then bring the mixture to a boil.
- This is the finishing step to lock in our flavor. Then place the meatballs in. Simmer for around 20 minutes until ⅘ of the sauce is gone.
Assemble the meatballs
- Blanch the bok choy in the remaining boiling water in the pot with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and a small pinch of salt to create a shiny sheen and to keep the green color. Once all the sides have browned up nicely and are well coated in the braising liquid, remove them to serving plate. By this time, the sauce has already thickened and reduced by about ⅘.
- Place the cooked meatballs in a serving dish. Repeat the procedure to finish braising the rest of the meatballs in the sauce. Scoop out the aromatics - ginger, scallions, and star anise from the sauce.
Make the sauce
- Prepare a cornstarch slurry by whisking together a tablespoon of cornstarch and cold water. Once dissolved, pour the mixture into the pan and stir. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reached your desired consistency.
- We want a thick enough sauce for serving with the meatballs. To check, dip the back of the spoon in the sauce, if the sauce coats it perfectly, then the sauce is thick enough.
Video
Nutrition
Here we are. We usually make lion's head meatballs in the amount of four. Because it indicates luck to the family.
How to reheat
If you have leftovers, steaming is the best way of reheating the loin's head meatballs. But you need to make sure they are covered, otherwise, the water drop may influence the taste and texture.
These meatballs store and reheat well. Store leftover meatballs, whether alone or in a sauce, in a closed container for up to 5 days in the fridge. To reheat, simply heat a saucepan over a low fire or pop in the microwave on low heat for a few minutes.
Alternatively, cooked meatballs can be frozen. Freeze in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Frozen meatballs can be thawed in the refrigerator overnight or reheated directly from the freezer. Reheat the meatballs in a simmering sauce or in a heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
You can also triple the quantity of this recipe and place ready-made meatballs on a baking sheet in a single layer to freeze (if you have the shelf space). They will freeze well for up to a month. When you’re ready to serve them up, put them overnight in the fridge and follow the steps above to cook.
What to serve with
It is a savory dish full of flavor. Our favorite way is to serve it with steamed rice and partnered with picked or smashed cucumber salad. The savory sauce can go well with the steamed rice, making each grain full of flavor and taste.
Thalia @ butter and brioche
I have never tried chinese style meatballs before! These look delicious and I definitely am curious to know what they taste like - think I need to create the recipe...
Elaine Luo
In fact, there are many yummy Chinese meatballs here. Most of them are quite yummy especially this one. Try it and I hope you love it as me too.
Alina
This looks delicious, I'm definitely making it on the weekend! One question though: I've seen a recipe where they also add minced shrimps to the meatballs. What do you think about it? Does this variant with minced shrimps and pork really exist?
Elaine Luo
In fact, it is really rare to add minced shrimp with pork in traditionally Chinese cooking. However I think it is ok to add a small amount of minced pork.
Tracie
Hi Elaine,
I want to try this but am afraid that the bok choy will burn since it cooks very quickly. Would you recommend chopping it in small pieces and stirring or just laying down the leaves while stewing? Thankyou!
Tracie
I made this tonight and it was delicious!!! 🙂
Elaine
Thanks Tracie for the lovely feedback. Happy cooking ahead.
Maddie
Hi there
Just wondering if you could serve these pre cooked and cold as a snack at an event?
Cheers
Maddie
Elaine
Hi Maddie,
For me, cold version tastes not good. I highly recommend serving them hot. You can re-heat before serving.
PETER
I have just got to say that these are the best meat balls I have ever tasted. I just love your site and all your recipes.
Do you have recipe book with all your wonderful recipes in.