The lion's head in Yangzhou dialect is called big meatball, and it is called Four Joy Meetballs in Northern dialect. It is said that its distant ancestor was the jumping pill roast recorded in the food classics of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (see Qi Shu. The eightieth baking method). According to historical records, when Emperor Yang Di took his concubines and his entourage south along the Grand Canal in a dragon boat and thousands of boats, he passed through various states and counties. Within 500 miles of Fiona Fang, he was ordered to provide food from one state to hundreds of miles. In particular, I am very attached to the Ivory Forest and Sunflower Mountain in Wansongshan, Yangzhou. After returning to the palace, I ordered the chef to cook four dishes on the above four scenes. Under the guidance of famous chefs in Yangzhou, the chefs made great efforts and finally made four dishes: sweet and sour mandarin fish and shrimp cake, chicken slices in bud and chopped meat with sunflower. After Yang Guang tasted it, he was very happy, so he hosted a banquet for me and dumped Huaiyang cuisine in the government and in the public.

In the Tang Dynasty, with the prosperity of economy, officials and dignitaries paid more attention to diet. Once, Wei Li, Duke of Xi, gave a banquet, and Wei Juyuan, a famous chef in the imperial court, also cooked four famous Yangzhou dishes, which were accompanied by land and water delicacies, which attracted the guests at the table to marvel. When the chopped meat was served, I saw that the sunflower heart made of the huge meat ball was exquisite, just like a lion's head.

In the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River and brought this delicious food to Kyoto, making it one of the famous dishes in the Qing Dynasty. During the Jiaqing period, Lin Lan, a native of Ganquan, wrote three songs about the Han River and sang the preface of Yangzhou sunflower balls: the meat was finely cut and coarsely chopped into balls, and the meat was fried into sunflower yellow with vegetable oil. The common name of sunflower meatballs is: guests and chefs frequently cut stocks, but also want to put down sunflower and have a new sense of fullness.