The Braised Pork is the most popular dish in China. Almost everyone knows it and has eaten it, either home-cooked or in restaurants. There are different versions in different places and everyone claims that theirs is the authentic one.

It was said that the dish was originally created by a great Chinese poet in the 11th century called Su Shi. Whether it is true I cannot tell, but he certainly helped making the dish famous and popular through China. Su Shi was a scholar-official in Song Dynasty. He was constantly on exile due to his disagreement with the emperor or premiers.  At his time, the pork was poor people’s food and very cheep. The officials and rich people thought pigs dirty so rarely ate the meat. Since he was on exile and had no privilege nor money for the lamb, he had no way but ate the pork. He recorded his recipe in a poem which was circulated around and passed on to today. In the places where he had lived, many people may not know his name or his poems but definitely heard the dish.

How to cook the braised pork then? Like other cuisines, the first step is to choose the proper ingredients. Almost all recipes will tell you that for a genuine braised pork, the pork belly with skin should be used. For people who don’t like fat or skin, the neck meat or the spareribs meat (without bones) are good alternatives. If you can get Iberian pork, that would be the best!

Now comes to the preparation. Cut the meat into 3-4cm squares and soak them in cold water with some Chinese cooking wine for about 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the water and put it into a clay pot, add again the cold water, 2-3 spoon cooking wine, 1 tea spoon vinegar (don’t use white vinegar!) and boil for 10 minutes. During this period remove any froth which comes out of boiling. Then turn the heat to medium level, cover the port and keep boiling for another 20 minutes. Then lower the heat at a gentle simmer level to braise for at least one hour. Now move everything to an iron wok and continue cooking. It’s the time to add soy sauce. Use the medium-low heat to cook for 30 - 40 minutes. When the sauce gets thickening, add the sugar, keep cooking in high heat until the sauce becomes very dense and wraps each square of the pork. It’s done!

Some small tips:

1. There are several Chinese cooking wines. Shaoxing Yellow Wine suits the braised pork best. If you can get “Hua Diao” wine, that’s even better as it will add richer flavor to the dish.

2. You can use regular sugar. But it’s better to best the rock sugar because it is sweeter, purer and transparent.

3. I would suggest to mix the dark (for the color) and light soy sauce (for the savory). The ratio depends on the saltiness you prefer.

4. It’s the best to eat the braised pork with steamed rice or steamed bun!

In China, every profession has its own god. So does the chef. Among the most commonly recognised gods with the culinary profession, Yi Yin (伊尹) is the most famous and legendary one. He lived 3700 years ago at the beginning of Shang Dynasty and his story was recorded in a history book “The Lu’s Annals” ( 吕氏春秋) which was written by Lu Buwei and his followers 2500 years ago.

According to the book, a woman from a tribe called Youxin was picking mulberry leaves and found a baby in a withered tree. She dedicated the baby to the chief of Youxin. The chief asked his chef to raise the baby and ordered him to find out what had happened. The chief was then told that the mother of the baby lived upstream of the River Yi. One day when she was pregnant, she dreamed of the god telling her: “If you see water out of the stone mortar, you must run east and don’t look back.” The next day she saw the water came out of the mortar. She told her neighbours and ran east for 10 kilometres, then she looked back and saw her village was flooded. Her body, as a result, was transformed into a shrivelled mulberry tree. Therefore, the baby was given the name Yi Yin by the chief.

He grew up known as a wise man. The chief of another tribe Tang, who was the founder of the Shang dynasty, heard of it and sent an envoy to Youxin inviting him to his court. But the chief of Youxin rejected. Yi Yin also wanted to join Tang as he had an ambitious plan. So Tang asked to marry the daughter of the Youxin chief. The latter was delighted and let Yi Yin to escort his daughter to Tang’s tribe. According to the history book, Yi Yin assisted Tang winning the war with Xia and establishing the Shang Dynasty. To pay his respect, Tang made him the prime minister.

Then, how was Yi Yin called the culinary god? Well, let’s continue the story.

After Tang had Yi Yin, he held a ceremony and received him formally. Yi Yin started his talk with the technique and process of cooking and seasoning, then described all kinds of delicious foods from different places in China. Tang asked Yi Yin whether they could be made now. Yi Yin said no because his state is too small to have all these foods. Only when Tang became the emperor - the Son of Heaven, he was able to enjoy them. To become the Son of Heaven, he must know Tao (the ultimate principle of the universe).

“The Lu’s Annals” recorded the following talk of Yi Yin about food and cooking, which established his position as a culinary god:

“For the fundamental of the savour water comes first. Five flavours (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty) and three materials (water, fire and wood) are boiled nine times and transformed nine times. Mastering fire is the key, sometimes with high heat and sometimes with gentle heat to dispel fishy, foul and muttony odours. The smelly food will turn out to be delicious only when the fire can be skillfully handled. For seasoning the five flavours must be used, but the usage of sequence and quantity, and their combination has a tricky effect on savour. The change in the cauldron is subtle and can only be sensed but not explained, like shooting arrows on a running horse, transforming between yin and yang, and the alternation of the four seasons. The highest level of cooking is that the food will be still firm even cooked long time, done but not mushy, sweet but not overly, sour but not too strong, salty but not heavy, piquant but not overpowering, delicate but still full of flavour, and fatty but not greasy.”

It was said also that Yi Yin had written the first cook book in China but unfortunately it was lost. Nevertheless his cooking theory was widely spread and has influenced the Chinese cooking ever since.

It is said that this ancient recipe was invented 4000 years ago by a legendary man who healthily lived to 800 years old. The taste of mingled fish and lamb had attributed to the Chinese word鲜, the combination of two Chinese words - fish and sheep, which represents the highest level of the taste from a dish.

Ingredients (for 4-5 people):

• 500g lamb
  
• 1 fish (any white fish of 500g in whole. I used dorade royale)
  
• 2/3 slices of ginger
  
• 1/2 tea spoon salt
  
• 1 tea spoon sugar
  
• 2 spoon Chinese rice wine
  
• 20g Chinese coriander
  

Preparation:

• clean the fish, take some meat out and cut it into small pieces for later use
  
• reserve some pieces of fine meat for later use, then cut the rest of the lamb into roughly 5cm cubes
  

Cooking:

1. pour 1 liter water in a clay pot and boil it
   
2. at the same time poach the lamb in water till it's cooked (blood is gone), then take them out and wash them with warm water
   
3. put the poached lamb into clay pot, add ginger, Chinese rice wine and sugar; cook with big fire till it's boiled, turn to small fire and let it simmer for 2 hours
   
4. drill the soup clear and pour back to the clay pot on big fire
   
5. when it boils again, put the lamb and fish meat in, and wait for boiling, then add salt and coriander. turn off the fire and it's ready to serve
   

Notes:

Although it's ok to use steel pot, I strongly suggest using clay pot because the soup tastes better.
For seasonings, the quantity given is an indication only. As everyone has different taste, please adjust according to one's personal preference. 

According to traditional Chinese medicine, lamb is by nature a warm but not dry food. It can supplement Yang and reduce the coldness in the body, and nourish energy and blood. Therefore, it's very good to eat lamb in the winter. 

There are many ways to cook lamb. The lamb and white radish soup is simple to cook but delicious and nutritious to eat.

Ingredients

• 200g quality lamb meat
  
• 250g white radish
  
• 1 small piece of ginger
  
• 5-6 of dry scallops
  
• 2-3 of Chinese coriander
  
• 1 tea spoon of sugar
  
• 1/4 tea spoon of salt and pepper powder
  
• 1 spoon of Chinese cooking wine
  
• 1/2 liter water
  

Preparation method

• Cut lamb to 3cm cubes, then boil them till blood is gone and wash them with warm water
  
• Cut white radish to 3cm cubes
  
• Put lamb, radish, ginger, dry scallops, Chinese cooking wine, sugar and water into a clay pot, when it boiled, turn to low heat and cook for 2 hours; add salt and pepper and it's ready
  

The soup is clear and tasty.


按中医的说法，羊肉味甘而不腻，性温而不燥，具有补肾壮阳、暖中祛寒、温补气血、开胃健脾的功效，所以冬天吃羊肉，既能抵御风寒，又可滋补身体，是吃羊肉的最佳季节。

羊肉有很多种吃法，这道汤简单易做，好吃养生。
 
主料：羊肉200克，白萝卜250克
调料：姜一小块拍松，干贝5-6粒，香菜2-3根切碎，盐、料酒、白糖、胡椒粉（黑白均可）少许

做法：

1. 羊肉切小快汆水去血沫
   
2. 白萝卜去皮切滚刀块
   
3. 取一小砂锅，把羊肉、白萝卜、姜、干贝、糖、料酒都放进去，加满水，大火烧开后转小火慢煮2小时，加盐再煮15分钟，撒胡椒粉，放入香菜末，关火。
   

特点：清淡鲜美

"A bite of China is a series of food documentary produced by China Central Television. Total of 7 episodes. It tells the histories and stories behind Chinese cuisine: the meaning and the symbol each represents; the connection between the nature and the people; the creation of unique foods and traditional recipes; the food culture that every Chinese is proud of. Get to know Chinese life philosophy and the respect they have for the nature and food. This is the video you can't miss."