Happy New Year of the Snake

Lion's head meatballs for Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's officially the Year of the Snake.

Last night we had a family dinner for New Year Eve and heard it was quite the ordeal to even secure all the ingredients for our dishes!

At T&T Supermarket in Chinatown, there was a long queue to buy a live fish -- an essential food to eat to ensure a good start and finish to the new year. Anyone who wanted fish, but did not want to wait could go into the line for fish that was previously frozen or already killed and on ice.

We also had a whole fish and roast meats

We also heard there was a two-hour lineup for roast meats in Richmond, probably the stall in Parker Place where there is always a queue regardless what day it is.

I made a contribution to the dinner with Shanghainese lion head meatballs (shizi tou), my second time making it. I basically used the recipe from America's Test Kitchen, and it's kind of funny seeing non-Chinese people research this dish and come up with a pretty much fool-proof way of making it.

The ingredients are: ground pork, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, salt, sugar, chopped scallions, white pepper (black pepper will do), grated ginger, baking soda, water, and a beaten egg.

This time I added finely chopped water chestnuts to give the meatballs a slightly crunchy texture.

To make the meatballs soft in texture, put the mixture in a standup mixer with the paddle attachment and have it mix for a few minutes until you notice the meat is thoroughly mixed.

Next wet your hands before making the meatballs, about as big as the palm of your hand. They won't be perfect round balls, but it doesn't matter.

Then heat up a large pot with four cups of chicken stock, and when it boils, carefully add in the meatballs one by one. When it boils again, adjust the heat to low and let it simmer for about an hour.

In the meantime wash and chop up a whole napa cabbage into quarters and then chop the cabbage into two-inch pieces. After about an hour, scoop up the meatballs onto a plate and then place the cabbage into the pot and then place the meatballs on top of the cabbage and let it all cook down in another half hour.

It's basically done by then, or if there is a lot of liquid, add mung bean vermicelli or rice vermicelli to soak up the sauce.

This dish is a great one-pot meal and even the kids like to eat it!