Recipe • Herbal Lion Head Meatballs

I love herbal food, the more bitter the better! But of course with young children at home, I'm more cautious of the herbs used so it's usually the more basic type of herbal soups using herbal soup kits from reputable Chinese medical hall.

I was delighted when given this chance to try out Huiji Waist Tonic, this brand has been in the market for 25 years, and is one of the most trusted waist tonic brands in Singapore. It is made with 6 different kinds of premium-quality herbs: Cordyceps, Ginseng, Du Zhong, Dang Gui, Shou Wu and Da Zao. There is no alcohol content, added sugar, honey or thickening agents.
Besides consuming it twice a day as recommended, it can be used as an alternative to herbs when preparing herbal dishes.

Today's recipe, Huiji Herbal Lion Head Meatballs (汇集焖狮子头), is a dish suitable for young & old. Lil K kept drizzling his rice with the herbal gravy, it's delicious! Besides the recipe, there is also a giveaway by Huiji Waist Tonic. The link is at the end of the post. Good Luck!

（╹◡╹）♡ If you tried any recipes on my humble blog and would like to share on your blog or any other social media platforms, please copy and include the URL so it'll link back to me.
Kindly do not claim recipe as your own. Thank you!

Ingredients:
350-400g Mince Pork (Note 1)
3-4 Water Chestnuts, washed and coarsely chopped
Oil for deep frying
Xiao Bai Cai/Shanghai Green (amount as preferred), blanch in salted boiling water.

Seasoning:
(Meatballs)
2 tsp Sugar
3 TBS Light Soy Sauce
3 TBS Hua Diao Wine
1 TBS Sesame Oil
Dashes of White Pepper
1 Egg, beaten
3 TBS Cornflour

(Braise Sauce)
6 slices Ginger
4-5 Spring Onion (white ends)
50ml Huiji Waist Tonic
1 TBS Oyster Sauce
3/4 TBS Light Soy Sauce
2 small cubes Rock Sugar
150ml Water
Dashes of White Pepper
1 TBS Wolfberries (wash and soaked, reserve soaking water)
Pinch of Salt (if preferred)
1 tsp Cornflour + 15ml water (cornstarch)

Method:
•Marinated minced pork with meatball seasoning, mix well and add in chopped water chestnuts. Mix again.
•Cover and leave in fridge, preferably overnight.
•Remove from fridge and shape the meatballs to 100gm+/- each. Should yield around 6 jumbo meatballs.
•Heat pot/wok with sufficient oil. Deep fry meatballs till golden brown on outside. Dish out and drain excess oil.

•Heat a wok with about 1 tablespoon of oil, fry ginger slices til fragrant. Add in spring onion.
•Pour in Huiji Waist Tonic, water, light soy sauce and rock sugar. Bring to a gentle boil.

•Put in meatballs and cover with lid. Simmer for 10 mins, flip meatballs to other side. Simmer for another 20mins.
•Dish out meatballs. Add about 40ml of wolfberries water if braised gravy's too little. Adjust to taste, if necessary. Stir in cornstarch to thicken gravy.

•Pour gravy over the meatballs, garnish with Shanghai green (or veggie of your choice)  and serve.

Note
(1) Mix of lean and fatty meat is ideal for making lion head meatballs, I used pork belly (五花肉).
(2) Fried meatballs can be kept in freezer for 2-3 weeks.

☆彡We are giving away 10 (ten) bottles of Huiji Waist Tonic worth $48.90.
Check out the giveaway contest here . Giveaway ends on 29 Sept 2017, 12noon. Hurry!
(Giveaway Closed)