Hi everyone! This is a recipe for a Shanghainese meatball dish called "Lion's Head" meatball or shi zitou. I grew up eating this dish as a kid a lot from a restaurant in the SF Richmond district called Dragon House. My dad and I have gone back and forth about the use of corn starch vs. panko in this dish. I ended up settling on panko cause I think it makes for a more tender meatball, but my dad swears by corn starch. Hope you give it a try!

 

serves 2-3, yields 8 meatballs

INGREDIENTS (meatballs)

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)

  • 1 lb ground pork

  • 1 egg

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder

  • 1 tsp white pepper

  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumb

  • 1/4 cup water chestnuts

INGREDIENTS (braising sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 2 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce

  • 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

  • 3 tbsp lao gan ma (spicy chili crisp)

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 oz baby bok choy

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)

  • 1/2 cup beef stock

  • 2 tbsp corn starch

  • water

  • vegetable oil

  • kosher salt

PREP

  • COMBINE all meatball ingredients

  • FORM meatballs into eight 2 oz meatballs, set aside

  • COMBINE all braising sauce ingredients, set aside

  • SLICE baby bok choy in half, set aside

  • CRUSH AND MINCE garlic, set aside

  • PEEL AND FINE MINCE ginger, set aside

  • COMBINE corn starch with equal parts water and mix until dissolved. Set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 6 tbsp vegetable oil to the wok and long yao

  • ADD meatballs to the wok 4 at a time and sear for 3 minutes, then rotate until all sides are seared

  • REMOVE meatballs and wipe wok down

  • ADD 4 tbsp vegetable oil to the wok, and long yao

  • ADD garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds

  • ADD bok choy to the wok and toss for 1-2 minutes until tender

  • ADD meatballs back to the wok, followed by the braising sauce, beef stock, and corn starch slurry

  • BRAISE for 2-3 minutes, then season with kosher salt to taste

  • SERVE over rice

 

tagged with woo can cook, lion’s head meatballs, shizi tou, meatballs, bay area restaurants shanghai