Black Mushrooms

” LION’S HEAD SOUP ” ( SHR ZA TOU )

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Meatballs come in many shapes, sizes and flavors. In the western cuisine we are most familiar with Italian meatballs, while in Asian cuisine soup dumplings are the most common.
Among Asian meatballs, Chinese lion heads are probably my favorite plain (no wrapper) meatballs. They are usually served in a flavorful soup, loaded with the Lions heads, black mushrooms, rice noodles and napa cabbage (pekinensis group cabbage).
Whenever I prepare the soup at home, (click here to see a version I usually prepare at home), I usually do the traditional chinese way, as described above. However, when I prepared the one featured here, I had leftover dumpling wrappers and ground pork mix in the fridge from the previous day’s  “CHINESE PORK DUMPLINGS IN TAMARIND BROTH”. I always have frozen homemade chicken stock in the fridge, so this  ” LION’S HEAD SOUP ” was a no-brainer and it took only a few minutes to put together. Easy does it when you’re lazy ! 🙂
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Bon Appétit !   Life is Good !
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Click here for more Lion’s Head Soup  on ChefsOpinion
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Click here for more Soup  on ChefsOpinion
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P.S.
Click Here or Here for Lion’s Head Meatballs Recipe (different recipes)
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” LION’S HEAD SOUP ” ( SHR ZA TOU )

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More Lion’s Head Soup variations :
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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: just a pretty set……..

: shape tennis ball-size meatballs, simmer them in chicken soup until cooked through, about 20 minutes

: add cabbage of your choic (white, napa, bok choy, etc)

: add noodles of your choice (egg noodles, mung bean noodles, rice noodles, wrappers, etc), cook until done, remove from heat, check/adjust flavor

: ” LION’S HEAD SOUP ” ( SHR ZA TOU )

: ” LION’S HEAD SOUP ” ( SHR ZA TOU )

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Black Mushrooms, Seafood Mushrooms And Bok Choy In Oyster Sauce

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When I was a child, (many decades ago 🙂 , I, like most kids, hated nearly all vegetables with a passion. Later, grown up and being a professional cook, I realized early on that this was no fault of the poor veggies, but entirely the fault of our mothers, who usually cooked the crap out of vegetables, did not season them properly and mostly looked at them as a sideshow who did not deserve the respect the protein served in a meal deserved.
I was lucky to visit, live and work in Asia, South East Asia, India and the Orient early in my professional life, at which point my negative attitude towards vegetables was changed to an attitude of love, respect and admiration.
Meanwhile, in Europe, with the advent of novelle cuisine in the 70’s, the approach to vegetables had changed and we are now lucky to see, eat and enjoy vegetables in a completely new light. Compared to before, this changed to include vegetables in prettier, lighter, tastier and healthier food preparations, either on their own or as part of a meal.
Since then, while the average home cook (mostly) still does not understand the beauty of fresh vegetables and herbs, at least many professional chefs have seen the light and pay the simple veggie the respect, attention and love they deserve.
Nowadays, everybody and their sister touts the health benefits of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs. Unfortunately, most home cooks and professional cooks do not pay enough respect to cook them properly, so that they are not only healthy, but also delicious and beautiful to look at.
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Today’s featured dish is a typical example how ordinary vegetables and fungi can easily and without much culinary finesse be transformed into a wonderful, beautiful and delicious dish fit for a king/queen. 🙂

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P.S.
Chinese black mushrooms (shiitake), Chinese seafood mushrooms (enokitake), Bok Choy (bak choy, bakchoi), etc, etc…….. 🙂
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P.P.S.
The only rice I had in my cupboard was Arborio. If you look closely at the cooked rice, you will see the difference of the short grain used here and the long grain typically used in Chinese restaurants.
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for Chinese Steamed Rice Recipe (Fan) on ChefsOpinion
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Click here to find out about Which Type Of Rice Is Used In Chinese Cooking

(Hint – short-, medium-, and long-grain is used)
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Click here for Rice Varieties From Around The World
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Black Mushrooms, Seafood Mushrooms And Bok Choy In Oyster Sauce

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: blanch, shock, drain 6 ea small stalks of bok choy. cut into quarters

: prepare “Fan” – 3 cups of rice of your choice, prepare according to link “Fan” on this page

: prepare sauce by mixing 1 cup oyster sauce, 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cop chicken stock, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp garlic paste, 1 tsp chili oil, 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp (or to taste) chili paste, mix well

: prepare a cornstarch slurry from 2 tblsp corn starch and 3 tblsp chicken stock

: remove stems from12 oz fresh black mushrooms, cross-cut the top, discard the stems

: saute the mushrooms in 2 tblsp peanut oil until starting to change color

: add the sauce, simmer for 1 minute, remove from the heat, let the mushrooms steep in the sauce for at least 15 minutes

: place the blanched bok choy and 5 oz raw seafood mushrooms in a steamer or colander, place in a steamer and steam covered until just heated through

: Mushrooms steeping in sauce, bok choy and seafood mushrooms heating, rice resting

: Chinese Steamed Rice Recipe (Fan)

: bring the mushrooms and sauce to a simmer, add enough of the cornstarch slurry to lightly thicken, add the bock choy and seafood mushrooms, cover all in sauce, check / adjust texture and taste