Dishes
Lion's head meatball
獅子頭
Also called: shizitou · 紅燒獅子頭 · stewed meatball
A big, soft pork meatball stewed until tender, named for its likeness to a guardian lion's head.
Photo: bryan... from Taipei, Taiwan, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: bryan... from Taipei, Taiwan, CC BY-SA 2.0What it is
Lion's head is a large pork meatball, made with plenty of fat so it stays loose and tender, then stewed. The name refers to its shape, said to resemble a Chinese guardian lion. White versions are stewed or steamed with napa cabbage. Red versions are braised with soy sauce.
Where it comes from
It comes from Huaiyang cooking in eastern China, especially Yangzhou, and moved into Shanghai cooking with 19th- and 20th-century migration. Folklore dates it to the Sui dynasty, but there is no evidence for that. The first documented recipe is from the Qing dynasty.
How it is made
Fatty and lean pork are chopped, sometimes with water chestnut, shrimp or crab, and bound with egg white or starch. The meatballs are set on cabbage or bamboo shoots in a clay pot and cooked slowly over gentle heat.
How to eat it
Get one as an extra alongside plain rice or braised pork rice.
In Kaohsiung
By the Ziqiang market in Kaohsiung, Nan Feng Braised Pork Rice has been in business for more than 60 years and sells lion's head meatballs one at a time. TVBS names them and the braised pork as the two things to get.
Where to eat it in Kaohsiung
Sources