Lion's head meatballs (獅子頭) with bok choy

(serves 4)

These juicy asian meatballs are soo delicious, firm seared outer with soft juicy pork on the inside, covered in a sticky sweet sauce! Traditionally they are apparently named after the 'Chinese lions head', with the vegetables surrounding being like the mane... unsure about this but regardless of its chinese history, it is definitely making it into the Cheng's family favourites history! 

Prep time: 1hr (including marinade time)
Cooking time: 30 min

Ingredients
300g pork mince
300g lean pork mince
2-3 T soy sauce
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3cm piece ginger, finely diced
1 C shallots, finely chopped
1 egg
2 bunches bok choy
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon/stock powder
250g vermicelli noodles (optional)
vegetable oil
1 T toasted sesame seeds, to serve

Sauce:
1/2 C soy sauce
2T dark soy sauce
2T xiao xing cooking wine
2T water
10 tsp sugar

Method
1. Marinate the pork mince in the soy sauce, ginger, shallots, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and the egg. Leave refrigerated for at least 1hr (or preferably overnight).

2. Wash and chop the bok choy into bite-sized pieces. Finely dice the garlic.
3. Soak the noodles in warm water for 10-15min, or until soft. If it doesn't soften (depending on the thickness of the noodles), you can cook in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then drain.
4. Heat a wok with 1/2 T oil then add the garlic and bok choy. Add in 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until soft but not soggy. Set aside.

5. When ready to cook the meatballs, heat the wok with 1 T oil. Grab 2 tablespoons and spoon out 1T mince, then shape into a ball and place gently into the oil. Continue spooning out 5-6 meatballs, then slowly turn the meatballs in the oil so they sear nicely on the outside.

6. Once seared on the outside, remove the meatballs and set aside. Continue making the the remaining meatballs until finished.
7. Prepare the sauce in a separate bowl, then place all the meatballs back into the wok and pour in the sauce. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.

8. Add in the noodles and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the noodles are al dente and have soaked some of the flavour up.
NB. If the sauce is too runny, then can add 1 tsp of cornflour to thicken.
9. Spread the vegetables out in a large serving bowl. Gently place the noodles and meatballs into the bowl. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve!