Name: Lao Zhou’s Lionhead Meatballs
Yield: Serves 4—6
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Cornflour, for dusting; 1½ tablespoons sugar; 2 teaspoons salt; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry; 480 ml (16 fl oz) Chinese Chicken Stock or store-bought fresh stock; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed; 3–4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons groundnut oil; 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce; 225 g (8 oz) fresh or 175 g (6 oz) canned water chestnuts, peeled if fresh, coarsely chopped; 4 tablespoons cold water; 2 tablespoons light soy sauce; 450 g (1 lb) fatty minced pork; 1 egg white; 450 g (1 lb) Chinese leaves, stalks separated and cut into 5 cm (2 in) strips

Preparation info

Serves
4—6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Easy Family Dishes

By Ken Hom

Published 1998

About

Ming Tsais grandmother, Lao Zhou, made a delicious classic Chinese dish in which meatballs are braised with Chinese leaves. The result of long patient cooking, it is something that only a loving grandmother seems to have time to make.

But these classic Shanghai meatballs are easy to prepare. The little patience it requires is well rewarded. And the dish reheats nicely.