Cooking Lion's Head Casserole Made Easy

Firstly, I want to declare that NO LION was ever harmed or killed for this dish of mine. Why the funny name, Lion's Head Casserole? It's probably the large meat balls in this dish that resembled lion's head, while the regular sized meatballs are probably looking like cat's head beside it. Oh.. whatever.. as long as the dish is tasty who cares about the name. Here are the ingredients:

INGREDIENTS A
- 1 pack of minced pork (I use frozen pork)

- 10 to 12 prawns, chopped into small pieces
- A handful of finely chopped water chestnuts
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine (I used nu-er hong, but you could use anything, even brandy)
- 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon of sugar (fine type)
-1 tablespoon of cornstarch (You'll need another 2 tablespoon set aside for thickening the broth at the end of the cooking)

INGREDIENTS B
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil for frying the meatballs 
- About 800 ml of chicken broth (You can get instant one like me if you are lazy) 

- Half head of Chinese cabbage washed, drained, cut into 2 or 3 sections (Picture above is only half the portion, as I had added the other half before I took this photo)
- Some chopped up garlics (not too finely chopped, you want it big enough to be seen even after cooking)

How to cook? Easy

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, combine all of Ingredients A and mix them up with a spoon. Keep the mixture covered and chill in the fridge over night.

2. The next day, form the pork mixture into large sized meatballs. Dampen your hands with water so the mixture will not stick to your hands when you try to mound them. Flatten the balls slightly, but not too flat like a patty.

3. Heat the oil in a pan on medium-high heat. When the oil is ready, add the meatballs. Cook until browned on the bottom before flipping it to the other side so that the balls will not break up into pieces. 

4. When the meatballs are done, lift them off the pan and put them aside. Bring half the chicken broth to boil in a large pot. Add just half of your Chinese cabbage (especially the stem parts) and the garlics, cook until the cabbage soften up.

5. Add the meatballs, reduce the heat and top up the rest of the Chinese cabbage and broth, covering the meatballs. Simmer for at least 35 minutes with half-covered lid. I like to keep it simmered longer so that the cabbage melts in my mouth when I eat. 

6. Thicken the broth with cornstarch.

7. Serve hot with some plain rice. Yumms!! 

Happy eating the lion, without really killing one.