Lionhead meatball soup
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- Easy
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 100ml groundnut oil, for frying
For the meatballs
- 500g lean pork mince
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tbsp grated ginger
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 pinch of ground white pepper
- 50ml shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp cornflour
For the soup broth
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 5 dried Chinese mushrooms slices
- 200g Chinese leaf, washed, quartered lengthways from leaf to stem
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 pinch of ground white pepper
- 1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp water
To serve
- 2 large spring onions, washed, trimmed and sliced, to serve
Method
- STEP 1
Put all the ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl and stir to combine well. Using wetted hands, take a golf ball-sized mound and roll into a round shape. Put on a plate and repeat to make 12.
- STEP 2
Pour the groundnut oil into a large wok or pan and set over high heat until a thermometer reads 160C. Put a meatball onto a slotted spoon and gently lower into the oil. Leave to brown for 5-7 mins until golden, then cook all the meatballs. To check if a meatball is cooked, push a skewer through and, if it comes out clean, it’s cooked. Lift the meatballs out, then drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper and set aside.
- STEP 3
Add 1 tbsp of the hot oil to a clean wok. Put over a high heat, add the vegetable stock, 850ml water, the mushrooms and Chinese leaf, and cook over a medium heat for 10-12 mins. Add the meatballs and cook for a further 4-5 mins, adjusting the cabbage leaves so they wrap around each meatball – the meatball resembles the ‘lion's head’ and the cabbage resembles the ‘mane’. Season with sesame oil, salt and ground white pepper. To thicken the soup, add 1 tbsp of the cornflour mixture when the broth is boiling. Then turn the heat to low and garnish with the sliced spring onions.
- STEP 4
Ladle a portion into soup bowls, spoon a meatball and with some Chinese leaf and sliced mushrooms, and serve immediately.
