Lion's Head Meatballs

Make the meatball

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 300 grams of minced pork (with a 70% / 30% meat-to-fat ratio), a tablespoon of soy sauce, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, 3 dashes of ground black pepper, and 50 grams of chopped lotus root. Crack in a whole large egg.
2. Using your hands, mix together in one direction until the mixture becomes paste-like. Use your hands to do this step. Put on food-safe plastic or rubber gloves before getting in there. Take your time with this step to ensure that the meat will absorb all the liquid. The combination contains a lot of liquid, which is fine. Its major goal is to aid in the soft and moist texture of our meatballs. Constantly mix in one direction when mixing minced meat. A properly combined mixture will allow us to achieve the desired juicy texture of the meatball.
3. Next, add a tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix the cornstarch thoroughly into the mixture. Again, take your time in combining the ingredients until the minced meat mixture is completely sticky and light in color. You can also use the smash against method shows in the video.
4. Check the viscosity of the minced meat mixture. The result should be sticky, very soft, a bit jiggly, and slightly firm. The right texture will ensure that the meatball will not fall apart when boiled at a hot temperature later on.
5. Now that the mixture is finished, we can set it aside and prepare to form the meatballs. Prepare a glass platter to place the formed meatballs on. Scoop a tablespoon of meat mixture into the palm of your hand. and roll it using your hands into a ball. It should be about 5 cm in diameter.

Simmer to hold the shape

1. Next bring water to a boil. Carefully lower the meatballs into the boiling water adding as many as comfortable, making sure not to overcrowd them. We’re blanching the meatballs in hot water to harden the surface of the ball and maintain its shape. Leave them to simmer for 10 minutes over low fire to firm up. Don’t let the water boil while the meatballs are simmering. Make sure there's just enough water to cover the meatballs.

Braise the lion's head meatball

1. When they’re fully cooked, remove the meatballs from the pot and set aside. It should look a bit pale. Reserve 600 ml. of the cooking water for use later.Prepare your aromatics. Break or slice a centimeter thick ginger. Peel and then slice into thin slices. Cut one stalk of spring onion into short 1 ½ - 2-inch lengths. In a separate pan, heat up two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Saute the spring onions, ginger, and 1 whole star anise until fragrant.
2. Add in all of the 600 ml. reserved cooking water, two tablespoons of soy sauce and two teaspoons of dark soy sauce, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, two dashes of ground black pepper, and 20 grams of rock sugar. Stir to combine and then bring the mixture to a boil.
3. This is the finishing step to lock in our flavor. Then place the meatballs in. Simmer for around 20 minutes until ⅘ of the sauce is gone.

Assemble the meatballs

1. Blanch the bok choy in the remaining boiling water in the pot with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and a small pinch of salt to create a shiny sheen and to keep the green color. Once all the sides have browned up nicely and are well coated in the braising liquid, remove them to serving plate. By this time, the sauce has already thickened and reduced by about ⅘.
2. Place the cooked meatballs in a serving dish. Repeat the procedure to finish braising the rest of the meatballs in the sauce. Scoop out the aromatics - ginger, scallions, and star anise from the sauce.

Make the sauce

1. Prepare a cornstarch slurry by whisking together a tablespoon of cornstarch and cold water. Once dissolved, pour the mixture into the pan and stir. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reached your desired consistency.
2. We want a thick enough sauce for serving with the meatballs. To check, dip the back of the spoon in the sauce, if the sauce coats it perfectly, then the sauce is thick enough.