Are Four Joy Meetballs and Braised Lion's Head the same dish with different names? What's the difference between the production methods? Braised lion's head and Four Joy Meetballs are the same dish with different names. Let me explain below. Braised lion's head is a famous dish in Huai Yang. It is called lion's head because of its shape and large volume. Later, it spread to the north. Because of the convenience of eating, there are four restaurants in the north, so it is called Four Joy Meetballs. However, the practice in the north is far from the authentic Yangzhou Lion Head.

Braised lion head gives people the impression that it is a big meatball, but this big meatball is very particular. The taste should be soft, served with vegetables, with oil but no oil. The meat is three fat and seven thin, finely chopped, the size of a grain of rice, not too thin.

The authentic way to braise lion's head in soy sauce is to fry it first and then steam it. In many places, the practice has been changed, frying it first and then burning it. Four Joy Meetballs later became the classic practice of Shandong cuisine, inheriting the practice of Huaiyang cuisine, which was fried first and then steamed.

Today, the practice of braising lion's head in soy sauce is not according to what is written in the current menu, but is based on the practice of Yangzhou natives, and lion's head is their specialty. This is Mr. Wang Huacheng, a classmate of essayist Liang Shiqiu. Let's take a look at the specific practice.

Mr. Liang Shiqiu, a famous modern essayist, said this when describing Mr. Wang Huacheng's operation of the lion's head:

First, first of all, the materials should be refined, and a piece of tender pork with three fatnesses and seven thinness should not be entangled in it. Don't chop into pieces when cutting. The secret lies in "cutting more and cutting less". Next to the knife, cut it into pieces, the more broken the better, and then chop it slightly.

Second, the meat is easy to break without thickening powder, and adding thickening powder is not a taste. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the starch to the palm of your hand and knead the minced meat into four balls, so that the balls are naturally covered with starch, but there is no starch inside. Press the meatballs slightly flat and fry them in the pan, so that the surface of the meatballs is tight and golden.

Third, the next step is steaming. Put a layer of winter bamboo shoots with hob blocks in the bowl, put the fried meatballs in the bowl and steam them over high fire for more than an hour. When you open the lid of the pot, you will see a bowl full of oil floating. Skim off the oil with a big spoon or suck it with a big straw, so that there is not a drop of oil in the bowl.

Such a lion's head should be eaten with a spoon instead of chopsticks. It is as tender as tofu. Add onion ginger juice, Shaoxing wine and salt to the meat. If you are willing to add sea cucumber, shrimps and water chestnuts, you can do whatever you want, but chop them up.

At present, the method of frying first and then burning, the fried meatballs are put into clear soup and boiled over high fire, and cooked slowly for 1 hour, then seasoned, thickened and served with processed vegetables.