Hi everyone! This is a recipe for a Shanghainese meatball dish called "Lion's Head" meatball or shi zitou. I grew up eating this dish as a kid a lot from a restaurant in the SF Richmond district called Dragon House. My dad and I have gone back and forth about the use of corn starch vs. panko in this dish. I ended up settling on panko cause I think it makes for a more tender meatball, but my dad swears by corn starch. Hope you give it a try!
serves 2-3, yields 8 meatballs
INGREDIENTS (meatballs)
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)
1 lb ground pork
1 egg
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup panko breadcrumb
1/4 cup water chestnuts
INGREDIENTS (braising sauce)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
3 tbsp lao gan ma (spicy chili crisp)
INGREDIENTS
8 oz baby bok choy
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)
2 tbsp corn starch
water
vegetable oil
kosher salt
PREP
COMBINE all meatball ingredients
FORM meatballs into eight 2 oz meatballs, set aside
COMBINE all braising sauce ingredients, set aside
SLICE baby bok choy in half, set aside
CRUSH AND MINCE garlic, set aside
PEEL AND FINE MINCE ginger, set aside
COMBINE corn starch with equal parts water and mix until dissolved. Set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 6 tbsp vegetable oil to the wok and long yao
ADD meatballs to the wok 4 at a time and sear for 3 minutes, then rotate until all sides are seared
REMOVE meatballs and wipe wok down
ADD 4 tbsp vegetable oil to the wok, and long yao
ADD garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds
ADD bok choy to the wok and toss for 1-2 minutes until tender
ADD meatballs back to the wok, followed by the braising sauce and corn starch slurry
BRAISE for 2-3 minutes, then season with kosher salt to taste
SERVE over rice