An authentic Lion’s head meatball recipe that uses breadcrumbs, water chestnuts, and aromatics to make super light, fluffy and juicy meatballs that are bursting with flavor.
Chinese pork meatballs are also called lion’s head (狮子头, shi zi tou). They feature tender, moist, and light meatballs with a savory taste. This dish is a staple food for my family, because it’s quite easy to cook in big batches and is so comforting to enjoy at any time. Eating savory meatballs with rice is as addictive as eating a burger. Juicy and flavorful meat and starch are the best combo in the world.
You’ll find quite a few versions of Lion’s Head in China. One popular rendition in northern China is braised meatballs. The cooking method for those is quite close to the one in this recipe. But instead of steaming, those meatballs are braised in a soy-sauce-based liquid after browning. Another type is meatballs cooked in chicken broth, from Shanghai cuisine. They’re usually served by themselves instead of over rice.
Today I’ll introduce a third type – a steamed lion’s head meatball. This recipe was passed down from my grandma. She used to make a huge batch of these every two weeks. After cooking them, she’d reserve a small amount to serve to guests who might be visiting her house. She would freeze the rest and give them away to family members, including my parents. These meatballs are my favorite and are even better than the ones from the restaurant. They are extremely fluffy and moist and are as tender as the pork in a slow-cooked Bolognese sauce.
How to make pork meatballs extra light
The secrets to creating super fluffy Lion’s head meatballs are:
- Mix water into the meat to make a very tender and moist patty
- Add plenty of breadcrumbs
- Add plenty of water chestnuts
The breadcrumbs create an airy texture. The water chestnuts add a really refreshing and crisp mouthfeel, so the meatballs will taste extra light.
How to make lion’s head meatballs
- Add water, seasonings and aromatics to the ground pork
- Mix in the water chestnuts
- Add eggs and breadcrumbs
- Mix in sesame oil
- Pan fry the meatballs
- Steam the pan fried meatballs
Mix the filling in order
It’s important to add all the liquid seasonings and water at the beginning, and mix until the liquid is fully absorbed. This will give the meatballs a moist texture and proper seasoning.
My mom always told me to add the sesame oil at the end, to seal the flavor and prevent the liquid from seeping out of the pork, if you’re not cooking the meatballs immediately.
One word about frying the meatballs
Once you shape the meatballs, you need to brown them to create the heavenly crust and seal the juiciness inside. It also helps the meatballs to keep their shape.
Since this is a very moist patty, it can be a bit tricky to pan fry while keeping them in an intact round shape. I wouldn’t worry if the meatballs are not perfectly shaped. And if you have trouble keeping them from falling apart, you can slightly press the meatballs so they have a slightly flat shape (but not as flat as a burger patty), so they’re easier to brown.
Steaming the meatballs
Once you steam the meatballs, some fat will be rendered out. The finished meatballs will be flavorful, tender, juicy yet not greasy.
How to serve lion’s meatballs
A lot of my American friends are not used to having meatballs without a sauce. But trust me, these Lion’s head meatballs are so well seasoned that they taste really good by themselves. I love to serve the meatballs as a main dish over steamed rice. And it’s always great to accompany them with some light and refreshing side dishes such as cucumber salad, okra stir-fry, or spinach salad.
The meatballs are one of my favorite lunch items, too. They freeze well and taste great after reheating. Stuff one of these into your lunchbox with steamed rice and some stir fried greens, and you’ll make all of your colleagues jealous when you heat it up in the office microwave.
Afterthought
My mom once told me, making the meatballs tender was not the original intention of adding so many other ingredients to the pork. It’s because pork was in short supply when she was a kid, so her parents needed to find a way to make these meatballs more filling with limited ingredients. Thus, the moist and tender texture of the meatballs was just a nice side effect of living poor. Even now, my family still enjoys cooking with this recipe. It tastes like home.
Other delicious pork recipes
- Chinese Braised Pork Trotters (红烧猪蹄)
- Pork Liver Stir Fry (炒猪肝)
- Pork and Chive Dumplings (猪肉韭菜水饺)
- Pork Chop Suey
- Sweet and Sour Ribs (糖醋小排)
- Jing Jiang Rou Si (Peking Shredded Pork, 京酱肉丝)
Lion’s Head Meatballs (狮子头, Shi Zi Tou)
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 g) ground pork
- 4 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt (*Footnote 1)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 4 green onions , minced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 12 (one 8-oz / 227-g can) water chestnuts , finely chopped
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup (50 g) panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
Instructions
Prepare the meatballs
- Add ground pork into a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of water. Mix well with a spatula until water is fully incorporated.
- Add Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, sugar, grated ginger, cornstarch, and scallion. Mix well.
- Add water chestnuts and eggs. Mix a few times. Then add panko. Mix well.
- At the end, add sesame oil. Mix until it forms a soft paste.
Cook the meatballs
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Turn to medium heat.
- Brown the meatballs in batches. Scoop 1/3 cup of the ground meat mixture and shape it into a meatball. The meatball will be quite soft, barely able to hold its shape (so the finished meatballs will be tender and juicy). If the meatballs are too hard to handle and cannot hold their shape, add a bit more panko and mix again.
- Carefully place 3 to 4 meatballs in the skillet and make sure to leave enough space to flip them. When the bottom side turns golden brown, carefully roll the ball with a spatula to cook the other sides. Continue to do this until at least two sides are set and browned (*see footnote 2). Transfer to a deep plate or a bowl that can fit into your steamer rack. Continue to brown the rest of the meatballs.
- Steam the browned meatballs in batches. Heat water in a steamer until boiling. Place the plate of meatballs on the steaming rack and place the steaming rack onto the steamer. Cook covered until the meatballs are cooked through, 30 minutes or so.
- Cook the rest of the batches using the same method. After cooking the first batch, check the water level and add more if it runs too low. Serve hot as a main.
Storage and reheat
- Store the meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. After steaming, the meatballs will render some fat and liquid. Drizzle it onto the meatballs before storage, to keep them tender and moist.
- The best way to reheat the meatballs is by steaming, the same method used to cook them. The meatballs will be heated evenly and still be moist inside. Alternatively, you can use the microwave. Make sure the container has some liquid (leftover grease or 1 teaspoon water) in it. Place a loose lid on top and heat it up in the microwave.
Notes
- I reduced the salt from my original recipe, since I received some feedback stating the meatballs were too salty. I think the current salt level (1 1/4 teaspoons) is great if you serve the meatballs as a main dish with greens. If you want to serve it with rice, consider using 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
- It can be difficult to keep the meatballs round shaped, because the meat mixture is quite runny. You need to handle them gently, so the balls won’t break apart. You can cook the top and bottom sides first, like cooking a very thick burger patty. Then you can use two spatulas to let the meatball stand, to cook the edges. The meatballs won’t look very pretty, but will still taste great.
Hello
Can I cook it in an oven instead of skillet, its oily and messy? Thank you for the recipe.
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn, I’ve never tried to make these meatballs in the oven but I think it should work. The meat patty in this recipe is quite tender. The meatballs won’t stay in perfect shape but it won’t affect the taste.
Happy cooking and hope the dish will turn out great 🙂
Thank you Maggie. I finally bought water chestnuts this morning, ready to make it today.
Happy cooking and let me know how the dish turns out 🙂
Oh wow! Maggie! This was absolutely mouth-watering. I missed the sesame oil, overbrowned the balls and had to braise them quickly with cabbage cos of time constraints. But, just WOW! I can’t wait for the weekend to make it the way you did. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Amanda, I’m so glad to hear you tried my recipe and enjoyed the dish! Braising these meatballs totally make sense and I believe they turned out delicious.
I can’t wait to hear your feedback on the steamed version!
Happy cooking and hope you have a great week ahead 🙂
Maggie, the Lion’s Head Meatballs that I first learned how to make some 40 years ago were about 70% ground pork and 30% crabmeat with crab coral added as well. And ginger, etc etc. I am wondering, is this a regular version of this dish? Have you ever heard of Lion’s Head Meatballs made with crab?? Perhaps it is a version from a seaside area?? Anyway, I highly recommend this version. Using homemade chicken broth and simmering the Meatballs for about 30 minutes makes a wonderful broth full ofmpork and crab goodness.
Hi Pamela, I think I know the version you mentioned. They are light covered meatballs that are braised in chicken stock. I think it is from Hangzhou or one of these adjacent cities of Shanghai. I’ve tried them in restaurants and really enjoyed them. I’d say it’s one of the regular versions of lion’s head in southern China. Mine is pure northern style 🙂
I love northern too! Good to know! I love Lion’s Head Meatballs! I will try this.
Awesome! Happy cooking and let me know how the dish turns out 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Maggie! This recipe sounds amazing but I don’t have a steamer. Do you have any ideas on the process of braising the meatballs in soy sauce?
Amazing recipe Maggie! Thank you so much for sharing your family’s tradition with us. I made these for dinner tonight and I couldn’t be more pleased. I subbed Sherry for the Saki (I live in the middle of nowhereville) and they were still great. Such a tender, moist meatball – I’ll be making these again and again! Can’t wait to share this with friends!
Hi Heide, thanks so much for taking time and leaving a comment! And I’m so glad to hear the recipe worked for you 🙂 Yes it’s totally OK to use saki to replace the sherry. We always make a big batch and freeze the rest. Their texture holds up well. I hope your friends will love these meatballs too 🙂
I don’t think it should use so much salt. 3 tsp of salt for 1 pound of pork is too much.
Hi Richard, this dish is on the salty side because we usually serve it with rice. Unlike western style meatballs, we do not serve it with any sauce, so the meatballs have to be a bit salty so it tastes just right with the rice. Plus the water chestnuts and breadcrumbs will add quite a bit volume. That’s being said, I think you can reduce the salt to 2 teaspoons without any problem.
I hope you can give the recipe a try some time. It’s really good 🙂
hello, I’m throwing a Chinese new year party for 8 friends. Should I double this recipe?
Also, I don’t have a steamer, but I like the idea of steaming because I want them to stay tender and moist.
What do you recommend I do, try or buy.
These meatballs were absolutely delicious. I served them with a dipping sauce of Chinese vinegar mixed with some soy sauce, green onions, grated ginger and a little sugar. Thank you Maggie.
I made your version of Lion’s Head for my family’s Chinese New Year dinner last night and it was very good. The meat mixture was quite liquidy, as you describe in the recipe, so I used a one-third cup measure to drop mounds of meat into the hot oil in my pan. This “technique” worked beautifully. Once the mounds began to brown, it was easy to turn them over to brown all sides and they held together. The meatballs were fluffy and delicious!
One more thing (and to answer Shellie’s question): using a one-third cup measure, this recipe made 13 meatballs.
How do you know when the meatballs are cooked through? I’ve been steaming them for a while now (around 40 mins) but the meat still looks a bit pinkish/translucent.
Love your recipes! I’m going to give this lion’s head recipe a try today! Thank you for sharing all these wonderful recipes with us.
So the water chestnuts need to be fresh or canned?
Hi Zhen – Maggie’s husband here. We made these with canned (drained) water chestnuts. They should also be great with fresh ones, if you’re lucky enough to have access to them 🙂 Good luck and happy cooking!
AMAZING!! These were So full of flavor and even the pick kids loved them! Thanks so much for sharing your grandmas recipe ?
I made these last night, froze the majority in 4 ball plastic packs. How do I reheat these, should I steam them over bok choy for 40 minutes straight from frozen, or do I have to thaw them first? Thanks.
I steamed from frozen and they turned out great!
These are AMAZING fresh and almost as amazing after freezing. Didn’t have dark soy sauce so just used double regular — tasted great even if they were a little less pretty. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
My Mom used to make these. Thank you for this recipe. Great memories and the dish came out perfect.
Hi Maggie! I was wondering if I could use an Instant Pot to steam the meatballs, and for how long you’d recommend steaming for. Thank you! I’ve been using recipes for ages and I’m so excited to try these 狮子头 this week!
I’ve never used Instant Pot to steam these but I think it should totally work. With high pressure, you should able to get them down in 20 to 25 minutes.
These look delicious and I like the steaming method vs. frying. Will these hold up in a broth?
Thank you
Hi Elizabeth, I’ve never tried cooking them in a broth but I think it should work as long as you brown them well, and don’t stir too much when adding to the broth.
Hi Maggie, I’ve made these twice now and they’re great! I’ve been looking at the pearl rice meatballs, too – do you think I could use this filling, roll it in soaked glutinous rice, and steam to cook? Or would it fall apart because it wasn’t browned first? LOVE YOUR RECIPES. Thanks!
Hi Amie, I’m glad to hear you like the recipe!
Re your question – I’ve never tried to steam these meatballs without browning but I imagine it might collapse or fall apart because the mixture is quite runny. The pearl rice meatball recipe uses a much firm mixture so you can actually roll the meatballs with rice.
Made these again tonight for the second time. It’s one of my favorite recipes… so far. Looking forward to trying new and more!Thank you for this!