Jiangsu | Yangzhou Lion Head
The delicacy of Huaiyang cuisine is not only reflected in the selection of materials, but also in the production process, of which lion head is the representative. Take the pork ribs tied with flowers, which are distinct in red and white, diverse in layers, fat and delicate, and achieve the effect of fresh and tender meat. Lion's head will also be matched with different ingredients according to different seasons, and the proportion of pork belly will also change. Spring and summer will be half fat (five points lean meat, five points fat meat), and autumn and winter will be changed to fat and thin Sanqi (three points lean meat, seven points fat meat), and the taste will be smoother.
Making lion's head is different from making fish balls and meatballs. Don't mince the pork belly with a meat grinder, do it at once. First cut the pork with a flat knife, and then cut it into tiny diced meat with a straight knife. The so-called coarse shredding, fine dicing, pomegranate grain size, no chopping, trivial cutting! For more exciting content, please pay attention to the official account of WeChat WeChat: Kitchen Shadow Food. The advantage of this is that the texture of the meat is maintained, the tissue still exists, and the taste is kept fresh and tender to the maximum extent. The key is that you can't mince it with a meat grinder or chop it with a knife. The real lion's head is delicious without a knife.
Not only that, the lion's head also knows how to cook, because the meat is cut out, so there is no sticky smell from the meat grinder, and it melts at the first bite. You can't put eggs, raw flour and the like here. It takes some real effort to hold this disunited pile of meat together. After adding seasoning and broth, this group of meat particles will fall from left hand to right hand and from right hand to left hand like a ball. After cooking, it should be heated with mild low fire for more than 4 hours, and the noodle soup should be kept open all the time, otherwise the lion's head will turn into rice soup when the fire is strong.
The truly admirable kung fu of the lion's head is still seasoning and must be strengthened with broth. Broth, that is, soup made of pork leg bones, old hens, old geese, ham and other materials with slow fire for more than 8 hours, is the source of the flavor of lion's head. Bone is the base of soup, chicken is fresh and goose is fragrant. All three are the soul of the old soup, with different tastes, and naturally there are few levels. To be a successful lion's head, you should be mellow, fresh and pleasant, and have both. After serving, you can see its shape in detail, which is concave and convex. That's because fat diced meat and lean diced meat have different deformation degrees after being stewed in soup for a long time. If you put it in a small bowl, shake it carefully and put it on the table. The lion's head should shake slightly in the bowl, shaped like a lion's head splashing water.
Jiangsu | Huai 'an Qin Gong meatballs
Qin Gong meatballs are one of the top ten famous dishes in Jiangsu Province. It is also a famous "tribute" in Qing dynasty, so it is also called Guanqing meatball and Qinggong meatball. Modern, Qin Gong meatballs have been selected as the intangible cultural heritage of Jiangsu Province. Its characteristics are: smooth and delicate, elastic, rich in white soup and delicious. There is a local folk song praising: "Qin Gong meatballs are round and bright when picked up, and tender and fragrant when they fall to the ground."
The seemingly simple meatballs are made with great care. The pork hind leg meat slaughtered in less than two hours is a good raw material for making Qin Gong meatballs. Remove the fat and meridians, and take out the lean meat, so as to ensure the viscosity of the meat paste. The key to making Qin Gong meatballs lies in the meat sauce, which is not cut with a knife or twisted with a machine, but hammered repeatedly with two iron bars weighing two kilograms. Beating people with a strong sense of form is not a performance, and it is not an unorganized use of brute force. The purpose of this manual beating is not to destroy the fibers in the meat and let the meridians continue. The final product tastes crisp and tender. When beating, observe the change of meat quality at any time, and do not contain tiny meat particles, otherwise it will affect the taste. Finally, add refined salt, chicken juice, egg white and other auxiliary materials into the beaten meat paste, stir well, roll them into meatballs by hand, slide them into the pot, and boil them over high fire, and a delicious meatball is finished.
Shandong | Four Happiness Meet the Ball
What do the four happy parties represent? In fact, it is composed of four meatballs with good color and fragrance, including four happy events: happiness, auspiciousness, longevity and happiness. The practice of Sixi Meetballs is basically the same as that of Lion Head, except that Sixi Meetballs is limited to four meatballs. Four-Happiness Meeting Ball is one of the must-eat meals in Shandong and even Beijing.
Zhejiang | Hangzhou Pimao meatballs
Maowanzi is one of the famous dishes in Tangqi, which is made of fresh meat and glutinous rice, slightly larger than table tennis. Fresh meat and glutinous rice are the main ingredients. Chop the lean meat and fat meat into minced meat according to the ratio of 4: 1. Then, clean the glutinous rice, soak it in warm water for 3 hours, then take it out and drain it, and steam half of it in a cage. Then the steamed glutinous rice is mixed with minced meat, monosodium glutamate, refined salt, onion, Jiang Mo, wine and wet starch, and stirred evenly. When eating, the meat has the fragrance of glutinous rice, and glutinous rice has the umami flavor of meat, which brings out the best in each other.
Zhejiang Jinhua radish balls
In every Jinhua family, a dish of radish balls must be ordered every major festival. Jinhua people have been making radish balls for more than 1 0,000 years, and its mix and match is unique: the proportion of several main ingredients has long been agreed, 2 radishes, 1 diced meat, 1 sweet potato powder. Too much radish is astringent, too much diced meat is paste, and too much sweet potato powder is sticky. Take a bite of radish balls, the crispness of radish, the freshness of diced meat and the toughness of sweet potato powder are mixed together, not to mention how delicious it is.
Zhejiang longyou meatball
Longyou meatballs, also known as "mountain powder pot", are mainly made of sweet potato starch and taro. Sweet potato starch is also called "mountain flour" locally, so it is a famous mountain flour cake, which is made by folk village women. It is said that Longyou meatballs were first produced in Ge Fen, but due to the lack of resources in Ge Fen, people changed Ge Fen into sweet potato powder, so that they could not only fill their stomachs, but also eat pork-like delicacies.
When making Longyou meatballs, people will add a certain proportion of taro and a little minced meat to sweet potato powder, and they can also add tofu or shredded radish according to their own preferences. Longyou meatballs are irregular semi-circular, oblate and uneven, with a color like boiled tea eggs, dark red and translucent, and crystal clear. Sprinkle a little chopped green onion to decorate it, and the red and green reveal the powerful charm of traditional snacks. Longyou meatballs are very soft and chewy under the action of sweet potato powder, and they are mellow and attractive, moderately salty and have a long aftertaste.
Guangdong Daojiao meatball
Daojiao has always been a land of plenty, with rich agricultural products and outstanding people, and many local specialties have been born. Daojiao meatballs are one of them. Daojiao meatball is the protagonist of Daojiao porridge, and it is also an essential dish for people who come to Daojiao to eat (including locals who eat out)-steamed Daojiao meatball.
Daojiao meatballs are particularly delicious, one of the reasons is that the meat paste for making meatballs is neither cut by knife nor polished by machine, but the best fresh pork belly is cut into strips, and it is pounded up and down with two strong iron bars while fresh, and mashed into mud. When it feels soft and particle-free, rub it by hand to improve the toughness of the meat sauce. For more exciting content, please pay attention to the official account of WeChat WeChat: Kitchen Shadow Food. After a series of complicated procedures, plus some seasonings such as squid whiskers, chopped green onion, salt, monosodium glutamate, etc., jujube-sized meatballs were artificially squeezed out, let them emerge in the thumb seam, arrange them in a steamer and cook them, and a cage of delicious meatballs was announced! Daojiao meatball porridge cooked with it is also a famous snack in Guangdong. The meatballs of this porridge are clearly visible and particularly refreshing. Porridge and meat are rich, but they are fragrant but not greasy.
Guangdong boiled meatballs
Boiled meatballs are a very classic Hakka dish. It uses pork belly, chopped into powder, mixed with shredded squid, mushrooms and shrimps, stirred with cassava powder and kneaded into a ball. Steam in a bamboo cage for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle some pepper, chopped green onion or coriander on it before cooking, and it will taste better. The so-called boiled meatballs are to eat while the pot is hot. They are delicious and fragrant.
Fujian Jin Mu meatballs
Maruko is a traditional folk food in Fuzhou, which has a history of nearly a thousand years. Among all kinds of meatballs, Jin Mu meatballs from Nanhou Street and Macau Road are the most famous. "Jin Mu meatballs in backstreet are (very) delicious," said everyone who had eaten them.
Jin Mu meatballs are popular because of their perfect meaning and reunion. Secondly, it is also the most important. Its quality is excellent, fragrant, crisp and smooth, and it is not sticky. Jin Mu meatballs originated from rice cakes in Fuzhou. At first, they were made of shredded taro mixed with sweet potato powder and brown sugar, made into a half-moon shape in a bowl, and then steamed, with a thin layer of fat on it. Later, the shopkeeper upgraded the original meatballs and mixed them with eight-treasure meat stuffing, which made strict requirements on the selection of materials. White taro should be produced in Minhou, and the meat is soft and smooth after steaming; Mushroom powder should be produced in Minqing or Luoyuan, white and free of impurities; Brown sugar was first selected from brown sugar produced in Xinzhou, which is sweet and pure. Unfortunately, now that the factory has closed down, it can only be replaced by selected brown sugar. Soy sauce should be delicious and mellow. In addition, you should also choose fresh sesame seeds and red dates with full grains, and Luoyuan fat pig with thick white plates.
In operation, the production of Jin Mu meatballs can also be described as meticulous. To make a shell, peel the white taro and plan it into taro shreds with uniform thickness; Grinding mushroom powder into fine powder, and pulping with boiling water; Boil brown sugar with water into syrup; Shredding taro into a pot, adding cooked pulp and brown sugar solution, stirring, adding the remaining raw mushroom powder, adding appropriate amount of spiced powder and golden yellow food pigment, adding water, stirring evenly, and standing overnight to make it gelatinous. To make stuffing, cut the fat into 0.5 cm cubes, then peel and chop the red dates and fry the sesame seeds. Then, mix the three ingredients and add sugar, soy sauce, marinade and monosodium glutamate. Leave it overnight to let the five flavors penetrate each other. It can be said that it takes 7 days to make meat stuffing, and the fat of fat meat is removed, so that it is oily but not greasy, and the entrance is like winter melon candy. Finally, scoop the fabric into a small dish, leave a space in the middle, embed the stuffing, cover it with flour and seal it tightly, then soak it in a steamer covered with lotus leaves for 30 minutes and soak it in raw oil. Every meatball should be turned over after it is lifted from the pot to avoid sticking to the bottom. Yao Zuxing, a descendant of the third generation of Jin Mu meatballs, said that the reason why Jin Mu meatballs can last for a long time is because of the fine production, strict selection of materials, unique formula and natural taste.
Anhui | Huizhou Mariko
Huizhou Zi Yuan, also known as "Fried Meat with Fine Sand", is a traditional flavor dish in Huizhou. Originated in Shexian County, it spread all over the country about 200 years ago. Zi Yuan, Huizhou, uses cooked pig fat, kumquat, candied dates and green plums as stuffing materials, cuts them into diced mung beans, adds white sugar and osmanthus, and mixes well to make a stuffing slightly larger than almonds. Stir pig fat paste, eggs, wet starch and fried rice into skin; Each outer bag is wrapped with a layer of stuffing and made into a ball shape by hand; After frying, pour in the marinade boiled with white sugar and green shredded pork, then pour in sesame oil and serve. This dish is golden in appearance, crispy in skin, sweet in filling and shiny in soup. This is a traditional flavor dish in Huizhou.
Anhui | Ge Fen Mariko
Huizhou mountain area is rich in pueraria lobata, which is cool and sweet. After being squeezed and washed, Radix Puerariae is made into Ge Fen powder and Mingshan powder, which Huizhou people often use as snacks. Ge Fen Zi Yuan is made of pig fat and sugar. Into a spherical filling, roll a layer of Ge Fen for three or four times, and then steam in a cage until the skin is black and shiny with small bubbles. Ge Fen Mariko is flexible and firm in texture, sweet in taste, and has the effect of clearing away heart fire and improving eyesight.
Pearl ball in Hubei
Hubei folk traditional steamed vegetables are made from pig fat, lean meat, fish and diced water chestnuts, with refined salt, pepper, chopped green onion, Jiang Mo, Shaoxing wine and stuffing, squeezed into small balls, rolled on soaked and filtered glutinous rice, and steamed in a drawer. After steaming, the taste is soft and glutinous, and the taste is delicious. The rice grains are crystal white and shiny, such as round and smooth pearls, which are very suitable for family banquets.
Taiwan Province Province | Changhua Meatballs
Changhua meatballs are a specialty of Changhua County, Taiwan. It is said that they were created by Wu Xushui Tao, a meatball vendor in Changhua City. The main ingredients of Changhua meatballs are selected sweet potato powder (made in Tomb-Sweeping Day), and top pork, mushrooms, egg yolk, winter shrimp and bamboo shoots with onion and cinnamon spices. After cooking and steaming, it is a semi-finished product, and the skin is moist, elastic and round. Fry in a tepid oil pan for a few minutes, then pick up the sweet sauce made of glutinous rice, peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar, and add the best soy sauce to the bottom of the pan. It tastes delicious and fragrant.
Taiwan Province province | Beidou meatballs
Changhua meatballs are well-known. Beidou meatballs produced in another place in Changhua County can not only compete with Changhua meatballs, but also have a longer history. The biggest difference between Beidou meatballs and Changhua meatballs is the appearance and stuffing. The two dishes are fried in the same way, but the Beidou meatballs are small and triangular; And only bamboo shoots and pork are used as stuffing. The production process is completely manual. First, the appearance is similar to the shape of Bao Dao, and then it can be eaten after steaming with high-temperature steam, and it tastes better after frying. At present, the two most famous old shops are "Beidou Rouyuanrui" and "Beidou Rouyuansheng".
Taiwan Province Province | Hsinchu Palace Bay
Gongwan is played with a wooden stick or a machine. The shot is called Gongwan, and the ball is called Marwan, hence the name Gongwan. Miyamaru originated in Hsinchu at first, but it was developed by hammering into pills because wild pork was tough and fishy and not suitable for general cooking methods. For more exciting content, please pay attention to the official account of WeChat WeChat: Kitchen Shadow Food. Remove tendons and oil from fresh warm pork, chop it, make it into slurry, add seasoning, and then make it into round particles. Most of the famous snack bars in Hsinchu are handmade tribute pills, which are well-known in the whole province and deeply loved by ordinary consumers because of their elastic texture and crispy and delicious taste.
Jiangxi ningdu meatball
Ningdu County is a place where Hakkas migrate. In order to escape the war in the Central Plains, the Hakkas in Ningdu suffered from migration, yearned for peace and prosperity, longed for family reunion and enjoyed peace and harmony forever, and specially made a kind of food with outstanding local characteristics and strong festive colors, that is, round Hakka meatballs. Ningdu meatball is a dish that Ningdu Hakka must order for the New Year or every happy event, which means reunion and happiness.
Ningdu people are very particular about making meatballs. How much sweet potato powder is put in the meat must be weighed. The meatballs made of too much meat are not tough enough, and the cohesiveness of minced meat is not good, which is easy to spread and not form. Usually put three or two sweet potato powders in one catty of meat. Pork is usually taken from the pig's front buttock, because the front buttock is thinner. The processing procedure is also very particular. The meat should be fresh, and the meat should be put in a mound made of stones. People with big wooden hammers took turns to go into battle until the meat was chopped. After stacking, weigh the meat according to the previous weight and prepare sweet potato powder in proportion. Pour the water into the mound, stir it evenly with the meat, and finally scoop it up and put it in a big basin.