Lion's Head Cabbage Soup

Lion's Head Cabbage Soup
Lion's Head Cabbage Soup
This is a dear friend's recipe with my twist on it. It is homestyle cooking that makes me recall childhood memories of all the soup dishes my mother would make. Easy to make and adapt to your own tastes. It is named after a lion's head since the cabbage surrounding the meatball can look like a lion's mane. I do believe this soup has a Chinese origin.
  • Preparing Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
  • Served Person: 8
white meat free gluten free contains red meat dairy free
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • fish sauce to taste
  • 3 pounds ground pork
  • 2 pounds pork neck bones clean with salt and water
  • 1 head napa cabbage or preferred cabbage
  • 1 whole onion peeled and scored
  • vinegar a touch
  • sesame oil a touch
  • Carbohydrate 2.82672484404114 g
  • Cholesterol 0 mg
  • Fat 0.126631875011629 g
  • Fiber 0.425767180029032 g
  • Protein 0.897012500032487 g
  • Saturated Fat 0.00802898437812743 g
  • Serving Size 1 1 Serving (357g)
  • Sodium 17.3812278647886 mg
  • Sugar 2.40095766401211 g
  • Trans Fat 0.102812343753702 g
  • Calories 14 calories

1. Fill a large stock pot about half way and bring to a boil. 2. Clean neckbones and drop in pork neckbones, whole onion, a little white vinegar and boil for approximately 1hr or until the meat has softened. 3. Chop green onions and separate the white from green, grate ginger, and chop cabbage 4. In a mixing bowl, add your ground pork, the whites of the green onion, salt, pepper, onion power and grated ginger. 5. Mix the meatballs and add 1 tbsp of water until it resembles a thick paste. 6. Create 3oz meatballs. You should have 16 in total. Set aside. 7. Once neck bones have softened strain broth (save the neckbones) to Dutch oven 8. Bring to a boil and season the broth with salt, pepper and fish sauce to your taste 9. Once the broth boils, slowly drop each meatball. Bring to a boil again and drop to a simmer for 45 mins. 10. Drop in cabbage and return neck bones (optional) and bring to a simmer. Cut heat as soon as it softens. 11. Drizzle some sesame oil prior to serving and top with some of the remaining green onions for garnish. Serve with jasmine rice. Serve neckbones on the side with a dipping sauce of fish sauce, Siracha, vinegar and pepper.