Lion's Head (or stewed meatball) is a dish from the Huaiyang cuisine of eastern China, consisting of large pork meatballs stewed with vegetables. There are two varieties: white (or plain), and red (红烧, cooked with soy sauce). The plain variety is usually stewed or steamed with napa cabbage. The red variety can be stewed with cabbage or cooked with bamboo shoots and tofu derivatives. The minced meat rich in fat is more likely to bring better texture, addition of chopped water chestnut also works.
The name "lion's head", derives from the shape of the meatball which is supposed to resemble the head of the Chinese guardian lion, specifically.
The dish originated in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, to a lesser degree, Huai'an. While the plain variety more common in Yangzhou and the red variety more common in Zhenjiang. The dish became a part of Shanghai cuisine with the influx of migrants in the 19th and early 20th century.
The dish can also be prepared with beef or be made as a vegetarian dish.
History:
The dish has been well known since the late Qing, as the recipe extracted from Xu Ke's Qing bai lei chao attests:
Lion's head, is a pork meatball, its shape just as its name implies. The proportion of fat to lean pork is fifty-fifty, chop up them, then mix them with egg whites so that the mixture can coagulate easily. The shrimp meat or crab powder is an optional ingredient to mix. Put napa cabbage or bamboo shoots on the bottom of a clay pot, pour a little water and dissolve the salt in it. Make the meatballs as big as possible, put them in, then put leaves above the meatballs and put the lid on the pot. Place the pot in a wok filled with salt water, to avoid cracking in this way, cook over a gentle heat. stoke enough firewood at intervals, when the meat is medium, burn the wok fiercely until the meat is well done.
Earlier, a salt merchant from Yangzhou called Tong Yuejian who lived in the mid-Qing recorded a dish, dadian rouyuan , in his concise cookbook Tiaoding ji
The significant resemblance between the both dished indicates that the latter may be the prototype of the former, which is acceptable. It is said to date back to Sui dynasty in myth and folklore, but there is no evidence to support such a theory so far.
Types:
Stewed Meatballs with Crab Powder
This type is deemed to be the traditional one, its ingredients and procedure changed a little from the dish which mentioned above.
Ingredients:
ribs of pork (proportion of fat and lean pork: 7:3)
crab roe
crab meat
napa cabbage
shrimp
Shaoxing wine
salt
infusion of garlic and scallions
starch
pork stock
lard
