Woo Can Cook is a series where we reproduce fun foods and recipes from my childhood. Some of them are authentically Chinese and/or pan-Asian, but a lot of them are odd Americanized versions that I inherited from my parents and grandparents while growing up in the Bay Area/California.
This is a recipe for a Shanghainese meatball dish called "Lion's Head" meatball or shi zitou which I grew up eating 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!
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INGREDIENTS (meatballs, yields 8)
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
- 4 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp 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, minced
INGREDIENTS (braising sauce)
- 4 tbsp 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
- 4 tbsp ginger
- 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 and corn starch slurry
- BRAISE for 2-3 minutes, then season with kosher salt to taste
- SERVE over rice