Lion's Head 獅子頭 and Shrimp Stir Fry Chinese New Years Meal

Hello and Happy Lunar New Year 新年快樂! I am so happy today as I get to share with you not one, but TWO of my favorite Chinese New Year Recipes, Lion's Head 獅子頭 and Shrimp Stir Fry.

Lion's Head (simplified Chinese: 狮子头; traditional Chinese: 獅子頭; pinyin: Shīzitóu) or stewed meatball is a dish from the Huaiyang cuisine of eastern China, consisting of large pork meatballs stewed with vegetables. There are two varieties: white (or plain), and red (红烧, cooked with soy sauce). The plain variety is usually stewed or steamed with napa cabbage. The red variety can be stewed with cabbage or cooked with bamboo shoots and tofu derivatives. The minced meat rich in fat is more likely to bring better texture, addition of chopped water chestnut also works.

The name "lion's head", derives from the shape of the meatball which is supposed to resemble the head of the Chinese guardian lion, specifically.

The dish originated in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, to a lesser degree, Huai'an, while the plain variety is more common in Yangzhou and the red variety more common in Zhenjiang. The dish became a part of Shanghai cuisine with the influx of migrants in the 19th and early 20th century.

The dish can also be prepared with beef or be made as a vegetarian dish.

Stir frying (Chinese: 炒; pinyin: chǎo) is a Chinese cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and the West. It is similar to sautéing in Western cooking technique.

Scholars think that wok (or pan) frying may have been used as early as the Han dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) for drying grain, not for cooking, but it was not until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) that the wok reached its modern shape and allowed quick cooking in hot oil.[1] Well into the 20th century, while only restaurants and affluent families could afford the oil and fuel needed for stir fry, the most widely used cooking techniques remained boiling and steaming. Stir fry cooking came to predominate over the course of the century as more people could afford oil and fuel, and in the West spread beyond Chinese communities.

Interested in supporting this channel? Become a Patreon for as little as a $2 subscription. Find out more here: https://www.patreon.com/unclebillskitchen