Tim Chin is a professional cook and writer who has contributed to Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen. A graduate of The International Culinary Center, Tim has cooked at restaurants in New York and Boston, working at Rouge Tomate, Northern Spy, and BiSq.

Tim Chin

What do you get when you combine the richness of a braised pork shank, the delicate texture of a custard, the juiciness of a soup dumpling, and the bounciness of a good old-fashioned meatball? You get Lion’s Head Meatballs (shīzǐ tóu). The name alludes to their shape, which is said to resemble the head of the Chinese guardian lion. And they’re just as regal and majestic as they sound: massive, baseball-sized pork meatballs that are deep fried, then braised in a savory, aromatic sauce until they’re meltingly tender on the inside, but still springy on the outside.The secret is a multi-pronged approach to make the meat mixture both bouncy and tender: two methods of chemical tenderization, mechanical manipulation, and an ultra-long cooking time.

Ultra-Tender Lion’s Head Meatballs