What is a gluten-lion head? Well, it’s actually wheat flour dough, sometimes used as a meat substitute in Malaysian Chinese cooking. This is because it can absorb sauces well and has a wonderful chewy texture.
It’s the type of dish that demands generous amounts of rice and also goes well with other dishes like chicken, sweet and sour fish and stir-fried prawns.
In this fuss-free recipe, you can explore how easy it is to make this classic recipe that is typically served during special occasions like Chinese New Year.
This recipe uses an all-in-one multi-cooker because it helps save time and makes sure all those lovely flavours are infused nicely.
Ingredients
Ingredients A
- 200g minced chicken
- 8 gluten balls
- 2 cooked salted egg yolks, each cut to quarters
- 1 piping bag
Ingredients B
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons supreme soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon chicken powder
- Dash of white pepper
Ingredients C
- 8 pieces pre-soaked shiitake mushrooms
- 6 pieces pre-soaked dried oysters
- Fatt choy (black moss)
- Ready-to-use sea cucumber (optional)
- Pre-cooked sliced sea snail (optional)
- Ready-to-use abalone (optional)
Ingredients D
- ½ tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons supreme soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon chicken powder
- ½ cup water
- Dash of white pepper
Method
- Mix all items in ‘Ingredients B’ with the minced chicken, and store in the fridge for one hour.
- Then, make a hole in each gluten ball and stuff one quarter of a salted egg yolk into each gluten ball.
- Next, place the minced chicken into the piping bag and pipe it into the gluten balls.
- Select ‘steam mode’ to cook the gluten balls in your multi-cooker and set aside.
- Then, heat up the multi-cooker using the ‘sauté mode’, add some oil and sauté the onions and garlic.
- Next, add in the shiitake mushrooms, sea snail and dried oysters. Drizzle in some sesame oil and fry until fragrant.
- Then, add the rest of the items from ‘Ingredients D’ to the mixture and close the multi-cooker and seal the valve. Reset the multi-cooker to ‘steam mode’ and set the timer for 25 minutes.
- After 17 minutes (eight minutes left on the multi-cooker), select the ‘add ingredient mode’ to release pressure. Once the pressure is released, open the lid and add in the sea cucumber and abalone. Then, close the lid and the multi-cooker will continue cooking for the remaining eight minutes.
- Once done, open the lid, select ‘sauce thickening mode’ to thicken the sauce with two tablespoons of cornstarch water.
- Finally, add in the stuffed gluten balls to the dish and serve.
This article first appeared in butterkicap.com
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