Chinese Meat Ball Soup - AKA Lion Head Soup

Originally posted May 2009 on my Facebook:

I grew up eating this soup and it is so easy to make I wanted to share it with my friends. The end product is a light broth infused with the sweetness of Napa cabbage and the flavor of the meatballs.

Serves 4-6

You'll need for the meatballs:
1 - 1.5 lbs of ground pork
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup of chopped green onions
3 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 eggs
2 tbsp corn starch
1/3 tsp sesame oil (optional)

For the broth:
1 large head of Napa cabbage, chopped into 4 inch pieces
Salt to taste, 1-2 tbsp
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar

Optional: pieces of soft or medium firm tofu, which will puff up luxuriously in the broth

Put 4-6 cups of water in a large pot to boil. When the water hits boil, put in the cabbage and reduce to medium heat. In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients until well mixed. Keep mixing depending on how firm you want the meatballs to be. The more you mix the more elasticity will develop and the harder the meatballs will be.

Heat some oil in a large skillet and prepare to brown the meatballs. I make mine about 2.5 inches in diameter but my mom used to make them 3-4 inches! Hence the name lionheads. But since the smaller meatballs brown better, I suggest the 2.5 inch size. Don't go smaller because then it loses that nice mouth feel of biting into a large meatball floating in sweet broth.

Wet your hands! This is important or the meat will sticking to them! Scoop up the meat and gently but quickly squeeze it out of the top of your fist through your thumb and index finger. This gets rid of air bubbles. Pat the meat blob into a ball and place in skillet. Turn after one sde is brown. Toss the browned meatballs into the pot of cabbage broth. Add the remaining broth seasonings and tofu. Bring back to high boil and reduce to low heat. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Serve with rice! We used to love mixing in the rice as a kid into the broth!

You can sub turkey or chicken for the pork. I don't recommend beef because that would make the broth too rich and fatty. It's meant to be a "clean" broth. Great for when people are sick.

Easy Steamed Chinese Meat Balls

Originally posted February 2009 on my Facebook:

I seem to be posting lots of recipes lately. But it's all because I've been cooking at home more often. Here's a super easy recipe for when you want a fast tasty dinner.The meatballs are pretty low fat and should be golf ball sized.

You'll Need

1- 1/12 lb ground pork (you can sub in ground turkey too)
1/3 jar of Chinese Pickled Cucumbers, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks of green onions, minced
1 tsp rice wine (or mirin)
2 tbsp pickled cucumber liquid

For sauce:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup water

To Make:

I usually just toss all the vegetables to be minced into my food processor before add the pickled cucumber, garlic and green onion to the pork. Add in the liquids and mix in a large bowl. Make sure you mix in one direction only to create chewier meatballs.

Make the meatballs by placing about 1 1/2 tbsp of the meat mixture in the palm of your hand and then squeeze the meat through the opening between your thumb and index finger. This gets rid of air bubbles. Then shape the blob into a ball. Place on a lightly greased dish. Pour on the sauce mixture. Make sure the dish is at least 1-2 inches deep to hold the liquids.

Prepare a steamer. If you have a small steaming rack that would fit on the bottom of a large pot, it would be perfect. Just fill the pot with water up to the top of the steaming rack and place the dish with the meatballs on top. Cover the pot with its lid and cook on high for 15 -20 minutes or until meatballs are firm.

If you don't have a steaming rack, you can use one of those vegetable steamers that has holes and just make a little aluminum foil tray for it or use a pie tin (something light weight) to hold the meatballs. I tried the foil trick for steaming fish and it worked like a charm.

Serve over hot rice. Enjoy!

Chinese Stir Fry Pepper Beef

Another one of my favorites for a fast and healthy dinner.

You'll Need:
1 clove garlic, sliced
1/2 lb of beef tenderloin or sirloin, thinly sliced into 1 inch strips (I bought the really thin steaks from the Mexican grocer next to my house). Should be less than 1/4 inch thickness.
1 small onion, sliced
1 zucchini (optional), sliced
1 tbsp red wine or some sort of dark cooking wine
1 Bell Pepper (red, green or yellow), sliced into 1 inch strips
3 tbsp Chinese black pepper sauce (in Asian grocery isle)
1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 1 tbsp water.

Heat up the wok or pan. Drizzle in some oil. Toss in garlic and fry until aromatic. Remove garlic. Toss in steaks and stir fry until lightly browned (keep the beef moving in the pan a all times). Make sure it's not cooked all the way. Remove and reserve with garlic. Add the wine and then toss in the onions and zucchini first. Stir fry till golden. Add bell pepper and keep stir frying till everything becomes tender. Add the beef back in. Add pepper sauce and stir fry till everything's cooked through. Add the corn starch liquid and stir till sauce thickens.

Serve over hot rice! Enjoy. :)