Tuesday, January 24, 2017

STEWED MEATBALLS WITH CABBAGE

The first reaction when my family saw this dish on the dinner table was a 'Wow'.  Reason was because this is the first time they get to eat an extra large size meatballs.  There no fighting for the meatballs as each is only entitled to one.

This is a presentable dish which is easy to prepare with only a few ingredients.   It looks very similar to Lion’s Head but this is a simpler version with addition of Dong Quai [Angelica Ginseng]  and Qi Zi [Wolfberries] to the soup.  You will notice a unique herbal fragrance and natural sweetness of the meat and cabbage.  The extra large size meatballs are firm but nice with the crunchy, sweet  waterchestnuts in them.
Recipe adapted from Yum Yum Magazine No.93 with modifications
Ingredients
[serves 3]
250 gm minced meat
3 waterchestnuts – peeled and chopped
½ egg
1 tsp chopped ginger
½ tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt
Dash of pepper
700 ml water
6 pieces cabbage leave
2 slice dong quai
1 tbsp qi zi
½ tsp salt to taste
Dash of pepper





  1. Mix minced meat, waterchestnuts, ginger and egg in a bowl.  Add in salt, pepper  and cornstarch.  Mix into a sticky paste.  Divide into 3 equal portions.
  2. Cook meatballs in water over low heat for 5-10 minutes until set. Dish up.  Discard water.
  3. Place cabbage leaves in a small claypot, pour in water.  Put in the boiled meatballs, dong quai and bring to boil.
  4. Lower the heat and continue to simmer for 1 hour.  Add in qi zi and simmer for another 10-20 minutes or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked.
  5. Lastly add in seasoning [salt and pepper] and serve.
Cookbook Countdown

I'm sharing this post with Cookbook Countdown Event#13 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Emily of Emily's Cooking [Makan2] Foray

10 comments:

  1. Kimmy, that is so convenient. Making 3 large meatballs saves so much time compared to making smaller ones hah..hah... Easier to portion out too :)

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  2. Oh my! This is so unique, extra large meatballs.. but I will still make three instead of two in my kitchen.... cos the cook gets the extra one! LOL

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  3. Hi Kimmy, This dish must be very tasty! I have made Lion Head Dish before and the family loves it so much. I'm sure they will really like this dish too!

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  4. Lol on your description of each person only being able to claim one meatball! Such fun to see such large meatballs that look like a whole meal in that pan with the beautiful colors of things...so intriguing. You are always coming up with something new over here and I can barely wait to check it out every few days! :-)

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  5. Hi Phong Hong, you are right. Save time and no fighting for more. One of this size is enough.

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  6. Hi Emily, how I wish cooks can get to eat extras but this won't happen at my MIL's place. She always says cooks can't eat. Really sad.

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  7. Hi Joyce, I find this easier to prepare than Lion's Head and I particularly love the addition of the Dong Quai pieces. Unique taste.

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  8. Hi Kayte, thanks for visiting me often and motivation. These days I'm quite busy but I hope I can share more of my cooking adventures though at times it is quite time consuming to draft a post. There are ample recipes to try and share. Would love to try and share them [the good ones] whenever possible.

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  9. I had to look up qi zi and dong quais. I love that I am finding out about all the different ingredients that we DON"T have in our cooking. And it looks delicious.

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  10. Hi TeaLady, with the addition of these 2 ingredients, the simple soup becomes awesome.

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