Braised steamed lion’s head dumplings

Said to be a specialty from Yangzhou and Zhejiang, these oversized meatballs, also known as shi zi tou, are traditionally made with fatty pork and simmered in chicken broth and cabbage.

Serves 4 Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes

lion’s head dumplings
2 cups rice, cooked
1 cup chicken meat, minced
30g white cabbage, diced
30g carrot, diced into 1cm by 1cm cubes
30g corn kernels
50g button mushrooms
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1½ tbsp corn flour
pinch salt and pepper

XO sauce mix
1 tbsp olive oil
40g onions, chopped
20g garlic, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp XO sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 cup chicken stock
pinch cornstarch

garnish
3-4 sprigs coriander leaf
1 bottle pickled mushroom ragout, to be served warm
80g caixin flower, blanched

• Combine all the lion’s head dumpling ingredients together.
• Roll the lion’s head dumpling mix into 10-12 mini balls, each about the size of a 50-cent coin. Lay a steam mat onto a steamer pot and put the dumplings on it.
• Steam the dumplings for 5 to 7 minutes or until the chicken meat is cooked. You can tell the chicken meat is cooked if you poke a small knife at room temperature into the meat and it comes out warm.
• To make the XO sauce, heat up a non-stick pan with olive oil, fry the onions and garlic till fragrant. Then add in the rest of the XO sauce ingredients one by one and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
• Finally, pour the sauce over the lion’s head dumplings and braise for 2 minutes, then garnish and serve.

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