Lionhead Meatballs Food

LION'S HEAD MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Pour boiling water over shiitake mushrooms, and let sit until soft enough to slice, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, combine chestnuts and tofu in a large bowl. Add ground pork, green onions, garlic, and ginger. Pour in rice wine, soy sauce, salt, cayenne, brown sugar, and egg. Dust with cornstarch. Mix with a clean hand until thoroughly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Form mixture into 6 large meatballs with wet hands.
• Set an oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and oil lightly. Place meatballs on the prepared baking sheet.
• Broil in the preheated oven until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while prepping the pot.
• Trim off the bottom of the head of cabbage and slice 1/2 of the head. Arrange sliced cabbage on the bottom of a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Arrange the remaining leaves on the top. Slice and scatter the mushrooms on top of the cabbage; reserve shiitake liquid. Nestle the meatballs into the cabbage leaves and pour juices over.
• Strain reserved shiitake liquid into a bowl. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, brown sugar, and cornstarch. Whisk until dissolved. Add to the pot, pouring over each meatball. Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and raise heat to medium-high. Continue cooking, basting the meatballs often, until liquid reduces slightly and meatballs are no longer pink in the centers, about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
• Ladle into serving bowls and arrange cabbage over the meatballs. Top with green onions and chili oil.

LIONHEAD MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Put all ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl and stir to combine, stirring in the same direction.
• Using wetted hands, take a large mound of the minced meat mixture and mould into a ball a little larger than a golf ball. Place on a plate and repeat with remaining mixture.
• Pour the groundnut oil into a large deep pan and heat over high heat.
• Using a metal ladle, carefully lower each meatball into the oil and spoon some of the oil over the meatballs Cook for 4 - 5 minutes until browned.
• Pour all but 2 T of oil into a heatproof bowl. Add the water or stock to the pan.
• Arrange the slices of chinese cabbage around the meatballs, curving them around the sides of the pan lengthways.
• Add mushrooms and soy sauce and bring to a boil.
• Cover the pan, reduce the heat and cook gently for 15 minutes.
• Add the blended cornflour and stir until thickened.
• Take off the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the spring onions.
• Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately with steamed rice.

LIONHEAD MEATBALL SOUP

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl and stir to combine well. Using wetted hands, take a golf ball-sized mound and roll into a round shape. Put on a plate and repeat to make 12.
• Pour the groundnut oil into a large wok or pan and set over high heat until a thermometer reads 160C. Put a meatball onto a slotted spoon and gently lower into the oil. Leave to brown for 5-7 mins until golden, then cook all the meatballs. To check if a meatball is cooked, push a skewer through and, if it comes out clean, it's cooked. Lift the meatballs out, then drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper and set aside.
• Add 1 tbsp of the hot oil to a clean wok. Put over a high heat, add the vegetable stock, 850ml water, the mushrooms and Chinese leaf, and cook over a medium heat for 10-12 mins. Add the meatballs and cook for a further 4-5 mins, adjusting the cabbage leaves so they wrap around each meatball - the meatball resembles the 'lion's head' and the cabbage resembles the 'mane'. Season with sesame oil, salt and ground white pepper. To thicken the soup, add 1 tbsp of the cornflour mixture when the broth is boiling. Then turn the heat to low and garnish with the sliced spring onions.
• Ladle a portion into soup bowls, spoon a meatball and with some Chinese leaf and sliced mushrooms, and serve immediately.