Lion's Head Meatballs Braised with Crab Roe

Name: Lion's Head Meatballs Braised with Crab Roe
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 2 h 10 min
Total time: 2 h 35 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 800 g Pork rib meat, trimmed (30% fat, 70% lean); 125 g Crab meat; 1 g Shrimp roe; 100 g Shaoxing wine; 300 g Scallion-ginger water; 50 g Rendered lard; 50 g Crab roe; 1250 g Baby bok choy hearts (about 6 cm long); 300 g Pork broth; 15 g Fine salt; 25 g Dry starch

Finely slice and coarsely chop pork rib meat into pomegranate-seed-sized pieces. Combine with crab meat and seasonings, stirring until the mixture becomes cohesive, then stew with stir-fried baby bok choy hearts until tender and rich.

2h 35m

Easy

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Lion's Head Meatballs Braised with Crab Roe

Ingredients

Pork rib meat, trimmed (30% fat, 70% lean) 800 g

Crab meat 125 g

Shrimp roe 1 g

Shaoxing wine 100 g

Scallion-ginger water 300 g

Rendered lard 50 g

Crab roe 50 g

Baby bok choy hearts (about 6 cm long) 1250 g

Pork broth 300 g

Fine salt 15 g

Dry starch 25 g

Instructions

Prepare the filling and vegetables

Finely slice the pork and coarsely chop it into pomegranate-seed-sized pieces. Place in a bowl and add the scallion-ginger water, crab meat, 0.5 g of shrimp roe, 7.5 g of fine salt, Shaoxing wine, and dry starch. Stir vigorously until the mixture becomes sticky and cohesive. Wash the bok choy hearts, score a cross-shaped cut into each stem, and trim the leaf tips.

Stir-fry the bok choy hearts

Heat a wok over high heat, add 40 g of rendered lard, and stir-fry the bok choy hearts until they turn a deep emerald green. Add 0.5 g of shrimp roe, 7.5 g of fine salt, and the pork broth. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.

Braise in the clay pot

Rub the inside bottom of a clay pot with 10 g of rendered lard. Arrange the bok choy hearts in the pot and pour in the pork broth. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Divide the meat filling into equal portions, toss each portion back and forth between your palms 4-5 times to form smooth, round meatballs, and arrange them on top of the bok choy hearts. Press pieces of crab roe into the tops of the meatballs, cover with the reserved bok choy leaves, and put the lid on. Bring to a boil again, then move to a low heat and simmer for about 2 hours. Remove the bok choy leaves just before serving.