Double Cooked Pork Slices (English name: Double Cooked Pork Slices), formerly known as Guobaorou, is a Northeastern dish. It was created during the Guangxu period by chef Zheng Xingwen of Yin Du Xueying of Daotai Prefecture in Harbin. When cooked, it has a golden color and a sweet and sour taste.
In order to adapt to the tastes of foreign guests, Guobaorou changes the salty and fresh flavor of "charred pork strips" into a sweet and sour dish. Usually, the pork tenderloin is sliced ??and marinated, wrapped in fried batter, fried in a pan until golden brown, scooped up, and then stir-fried to thicken it.
Zheng Xingwen, the founder of Harbin Daotai cuisine and the first chief chef of Daotai Du Xueying in Binjiang Road Department, is the originator of Guobao Pork!
According to Zheng Shuguo, a fourth-generation celebrity chef who specializes in Taiwanese cuisine, the Zheng family is a bannerman. Zheng Xingwen’s father, Zheng Mingquan, lives in Liaoning and is engaged in tea business in Beijing. Due to socializing and socializing, he often tastes various delicacies. , the taste is very tricky, and is nicknamed "gourmet" by friends. Zheng Xingwen came to Beijing with his father at the age of 6 and gradually became interested in cooking. By the time he was 14, he was extremely fond of food and cooking. Later, he became a disciple of Chen Caibao, the successor of Huaiyang cuisine.
Northeastern Famous Dishes: The Historical Origin of Guobaorou
Zheng Mingquan believed that "a gentleman lives far away from the kitchen" and was worried that his son's cooking would embarrass the bannermen. However, Zheng Xingwen was determined, so Zheng Mingquan had no choice but to satisfy his wish and asked someone to send Zheng Xingwen to Prince Gong's Mansion to learn cooking skills. This opened Zheng Xingwen's horizons and gained him knowledge. When he was 24 years old, Zheng Xingwen started his career as a chef. His family would not let him go out to cook, so he opened a "Zhenweiju" restaurant on Donghuamen Street in Beijing and became his own boss. "Zhenweiju" had a good customer base, but Zheng Xingwen's "Eight Banners style" showed up. He only cared about the quality of the dishes but ignored the cost. As a result, the business became more prosperous and the more it lost money. After working for more than three years, it had to close down.
In 1907, Zheng Xingwen came to Harbin with 14 cooks and his family on the recommendation of Zheng Guohua, the general office of Heilongjiang China Foreign Affairs Bureau, and entered the then Binjiang Pass Yamen and became an official chef, specializing in Cooked meals for the first Daotai Du Xueying. As the government office of an important northern town at that time, Daotai Mansion often entertained foreign guests, especially Russian guests. Since foreigners like to eat sweet and sour tastes, the salty and strong taste in the north makes foreign guests very uncomfortable. Daotai Du Xueying ordered the chefs in the house to change the taste of the dishes. Zheng Xingwen changed the original salty "charred pork strips" into sweet and sour dishes. This change made Harbin the origin of Guobao Pork. Zheng Xingwen called it "Guobaorou", which may be due to foreigners' pronunciation problems when ordering. Over time, it evolved into today's "Guobaorou".
Northeastern Famous Dishes: The Historical Origin of Guobao Pork
Russian guests like this dish very much and must order it every time they come to eat. Not only that, Zheng Xingwen created many delicacies in Daotaifu's kitchen, such as "Pig's Head Braised Zi" (later changed to "Pig's Head Cake", but it is still called "Pig's Head Braised" among the people), "Smoked Braised Duck" and Soup Pork Tender "braised lion's head" and more. In 1911, at the International Plague Research Conference held in Fengtian (today’s Shenyang), Zheng Xingwen was highly praised by representatives from various countries for his superb cooking skills, and was awarded the honorary plaque "Binjiang Food Ancestor" by the conference.