Red Curry Coconut Lion's Head Meatballs (Chinese × Thai)

Method

1. Separate the spring onion whites from the greens; finely chop the whites and keep the greens for the end. Put the pork in a bowl with the chopped whites, ginger, garlic, part of the fish sauce, the egg and cornflour, and stir in one direction with chopsticks for 3 min until sticky.

   Add in this stepMinced pork (25–30% fat) 300 gSpring onions 1Fresh ginger, finely grated 10 gGarlic cloves, minced 2Fish sauce 1¼ tspEgg, beaten (use the amount shown) ½Cornflour 3 tsp

2. Wet your hands with cold water and shape the mixture into balls of about 85 g (4 in total), tossing each one lightly between your palms about 10 times to knock out the air.

3. Heat most of the oil in a 24 cm deep frying pan with a lid over medium heat to about 170 °C (a wooden chopstick dipped in should fizz with small, steady bubbles). Lower the meatballs in from a spoon, sliding them away from you. Fry for 5 min, rolling them around until golden all over, then lift them onto a plate. They are not cooked through yet. Keep the lid close in case the oil spits.

   Add in this stepNeutral oil 2⅛ tbsp

   medium heat

4. If there are burnt bits in the pan, wipe them out with kitchen paper. Add the remaining oil and the curry paste and fry over medium-low heat for 2 min, adding a few spoonfuls of the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk tin. It's ready when the oil turns red and the smell is intense. Keep stirring so the paste doesn't burn.

   Add in this stepNeutral oil 0.9 tbspThai red curry paste 1½ tbspCoconut milk (tin, unshaken) 60 ml

   medium-low heat

5. Add the rest of the coconut milk, the stock, the remaining fish sauce, the palm sugar and the lime leaves torn in half, and bring to the boil over high heat. Return the meatballs, turn down to low heat, cover and simmer for 20 min, turning them once. Coconut sauce splits if boiled hard, so keep it gentle.

   Add in this stepCoconut milk (tin, unshaken) 240 mlChicken stock 150 mlFish sauce 1¾ tspPalm sugar (or light brown sugar) 2 tspMakrut lime leaves 3

   high heat→low heat

6. Cut the cabbage into 4 cm pieces; tuck the stems between the meatballs and lay the leaves on top, pressing them into the sauce. Cover and cook over medium heat for 8 min, until the stems are translucent. Cut one meatball open to check there is no pink (at least 71 °C in the centre).

   Add in this stepNapa cabbage 300 g

   medium heat

7. Turn off the heat, stir in the Thai basil and lime juice, then taste: add a dash of fish sauce for salt or a little palm sugar for sweetness. Scatter over the sliced spring onion greens and serve with jasmine rice.

   Add in this stepThai basil leaves 10 gLime ½Spring onions 1