An iconic dish of
the entire Jiangsu area, each town seems to have its own take on how to season
and present these giant, juicy meatballs.
Fried green onions add a lovely
toasty layer to the dish and excellent depth to the sauce, turning into blackish
strips that melt on the tongue.
The
mung bean sheets are a personal favorite because I love the silky touch of the fěnpí.
If you are looking for something
carnal to serve, this is it.
Red-cooked lion heads
Hóngshāo shīzitóu 紅燒獅子頭
Jiangsu cuisine
Serves 4 to 8
Fried green onions and míngyóu:
1 bunch green onions, trimmed
½ cup | 125 ml peanut or vegetable oil
 |
| Fried green onions |
Seasoned water:
1 scallion, trimmed and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
6 tablespoons | 90 ml water
Meatballs:
1 pound | 500 g good quality ground pork
(see Tips)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
2 teaspoons regular soy sauce
¼ teaspoon sea salt
8 fresh or frozen water chestnuts, or 5
ounces | 150 g jicama, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons ground raw rice (see Tip)
Stock:
¼ cup | 60 ml green onion míngyóu (above)
1 quart | 1 liter unsalted chicken stock
6 thin slices ginger
1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
2 teaspoons rock sugar
The rest:
8 ounces | 250 g napa cabbage, trimmed
3 mung bean sheets (fěnpí)
Boiling water, as needed
2 teaspoons mushroom seasoning
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
 |
| Peeled & unpeeled water chestnuts |
1. First make the
fried green onions: Chop the green onions into 1-inch | 2-cm lengths and put
them in a wok with the oil. Fry these together over medium heat, stirring
occasionally, until the onions are browned and toasty. Strain out the onions
and place them in the bottom of a large (6- to 8-cup) sandpot or covered casserole.
Set aside ¼ cup | 60 ml of the green onion míngyóu
(a seasoned oil that literally means “bright oil”) for Step 3 and use the rest
for something else, like the TK on page TK.
2. Next, prepare the
seasoned water: Place the green onions, ginger, and water in a blender and whirl
these together until the ginger is pulverized; scrape down the sides a couple
of times to get everything liquefied.
3. Place the pork on
a cutting board and smack it with the backs of two heavy knives, scraping it up
and turning it over again and again, until the meat looks pale and sticky.
Place the meat in a medium work bowl and use your hand as a paddle to beat in
the seasoned water and then the egg, soy sauce, rice wine, and salt until the
mixture is light and fluffy. Pick up handfuls and energetically smack the meat
mixture back into the bowl to lighten it even further. Mix in the water
chestnuts and rice.
4. Set a wok over
medium heat and swirl in the míngyóu.
Wet your hands and scoop out about one-eighth of the pork mixture form it into
a ball. Toss it back and forth between your hands like it was a baseball and
you’re warming up for a pitch, as this will make it even more tensile. Shape it
into a ball before sliding it into the hot oil. Do this again with 3 more
meatballs, so that you are frying half of the mixture at a time. Brown the
meatballs all over until they have a crunchy crust, and then place them in the
sandpot. Repeat with the rest of the pork mixture in order to have 8 fat
meatballs. Strain the oil in your wok into a bowl and use it for something
else, like a stir-fry.
 |
| Beat stuff in with your hand |
5. Add all of the stock
ingredients to the sandpot, cover, and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat
to maintain a gentle simmer and cook the lion heads for about 2 hours with the
lid slightly ajar so that steam can escape.
6. While the sandpot
is cooking away, thinly shred the napa cabbage. Place the mung bean sheets in a
wide pan and cover with boiling water. By the time the water has cooled, the fěnpí will translucent and soft, but still chewy. Drain. If it hasn’t
fallen apart into strips, tear or cut them up into pieces not much larger than
4 inches | 10 cm. Layer the softened fěnpí into the sandpot and add
just enough boiling water to come halfway up the sheets. Add the mushroom
powder, rice wine, and cabbage. Cover the sandpot and simmer for around 15
minutes so that the vegetables barely cook through and the sheets absorb the
rich flavors of the stock. Serve hot. Use tongs to serve the fenpi, as it is pretty slippery.
Tip
Grind raw rice in a food processor or mortar until about the
size of sesame seeds. Or, get “broken jasmine rice,” which already is busted up
into small pieces from the milling process.
