Lion’s head meatballs are a delicious dish that is often made for the Chinese New Year. These large meatballs made of pork, green onion, ginger, and other seasonings are pan fried until brown and then braised in a clay pot surrounded by bok choy. The meatballs themselves represent a lion’s head while the bok choy is the lion’s main. Try this amazing lion’s head meatballs recipe and let me know what you think in the Chinese food forum. Enjoy!

To watch a video for these instructions click here

1lb ground pork
2 green onions
½ piece fresh ginger
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp shao hsing wine
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 large egg white
peanut oil
1 head of bok choy
2 chicken bouillon cubes (Maggies works best for this recipe)
1¾ cup of boiling water

1. Place the pork in a large bowl.


2. Rinse the green onions under cold running water and dry them with paper towels. Then cut off their bases and about an inch from the tops of the greens and discard. Cut the remaining stalks into tiny pieces and add them to the ground pork.


3. Peel the ginger and then grate it directly into the pork mixture.


4. Add the white pepper, salt, cornstarch, shao hsing wine, soy sauce, and egg white to the pork. Then using your hands carefully mix everything together. Make sure not to mix this too much or the meatballs will be too dense in the final dish.


5. Next form the meat mixture into 4 large balls.


6. Then in a non-stick pan heat ¼ inch layer of peanut oil on medium-high.


7. When the oil is hot add the meatballs. Then carefully rotate them about every 4 minutes so that they brown on all sides. This takes about 12 to 15 minutes in total.


8. While the meatballs brown, prepare the bok choy. Cut off the very bottom of the head of bok choy. Then rinse each leaf under cold running water and dry them thoroughly. Cut off the stalks and save them for a later recipe.


9. Place the bok choy leaves in a clay pot by first lining the pot with the leaves and then placing the remainder in the bottom of the pot.


10. Once the meatballs are brown, place them on top of the bok choy in the clay pot.


11. Add the bouillon cubes to the boiling water and stir until they dissolve. Then pour this mixture into the clay pot.


12. Next, cover the clay pot and heat it on medium and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until the bok choy leaves are just soft and the meatballs are cooked through.


13. Then you can remove it from the heat and serve. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!