
Lion’s Head Meatballs is a flavourful winter dish from Huaiyang cuisine. The giant meatballs are said to represent a lion’s head and the shredded cabbage represents its’ mane. This dish is perfect to celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome in the Year of the Rooster.
The oversized meatballs are traditionally served on a platter and diners scoop off a portion of the meatball along with some sauce and cabbage. If I was making them to celebrate Chinese New Year I would do this but for everyday I usually divide the meat mixture into about six meatballs. This just makes it a bit easier to cook and serve.
I once attended a Hugh Carpenter cooking class and brought my copy of his Pacific Flavors cookbook to be signed. He recommended the Lion’s Head Meatballs so I went home and made them. This is my gluten free take on his recipe and I am grateful for his suggestion. I have been making this dish ever since and although it is a little bit of work it is worth it. Once you taste it I’m sure you will agree.
If you want to cook and enjoy a variety of interesting meals you need a well-stocked pantry. Then you need a few favourite recipes that use all the ingredients you have. I wrote a previous post on stocking a gluten free Asian pantry so here I will simply suggest one recipe for each of the ingredients used in this recipe…just in case you need a reason to add it to your pantry.
Canned foods in the pantry can be a life saver…not too many but just enough. They sometimes remind me to make a dish but they can also be used to extend a dish when you are a little short on fresh veggies. I like to have a can of water chestnuts in the back of the cupboard for this exact recipe. They add a nice crunch and unique taste to these meatballs. This recipe uses about a half a can. You can freeze the rest or use them up in my everyday stir-fry.
Chinese New Year only comes once a year but you can make this dish anytime. Let me know in the comments below if you made the giant lion’s head meatballs.
6 dried black Chinese mushrooms |
3 green onions, finely chopped |
6 water chestnuts, finely chopped |
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped |
1 Tbsp finely minced ginger |
1 Tbsp cornstarch (and more for dusting meatballs) |
2 Tbsp dry sherry |
1 Tbsp GF soy sauce |
1 Tbsp GF oyster sauce |
½ tsp sugar |
¼ tsp pepper |
1 lb ground pork |
CABBAGE & COOKING |
4 Tbsp vegetable oil |
6 cups shredded green cabbage |
SAUCE |
1½ cups GF chicken stock |
¼ cup dry sherry |
2 Tbsp GF oyster sauce |
1 Tbsp GF soy sauce |
1 tsp sesame oil |
½ tsp sugar |
¼ tsp pepper |
FINISHING - 2 Tbsp cornstarch & 2 Tbsp water |
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