The dish named after Su Shi is Dongpo Pork. Su Shi, a famous writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, with the courtesy name Zizhan and He Zhong, also known as Tieguan Taoist, Hai Taoist, Dongpo layman, and the world often calls him Su Dongpo.
Dongpo Pork is a famous dish in Suzhou and Hangzhou cuisine. It is made by slow-cooking pork belly with soy sauce, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine and other seasonings. According to legend, this dish was invented by Su Shi, a great writer in the Song Dynasty. Dongpo Rou was made when Su Shi was an official in Suzhou and led the local people to fight against the flood. After the flood was successfully fought, this dish was served at the celebration banquet, hence the name Dongpo Pork.
The origin of Dongpo meat.
According to legend, during the Yuanyou period of the Northern Song Dynasty (about 1090 AD), Su Dongpo served as the governor of Hangzhou and mobilized the people to dredge the West Lake. After the completion of the project, in order to reward the migrant workers, he ordered his family to cook the pork donated by the people on a slow fire and with less water according to his experience. When the fire is sufficient, it will cook to its own perfection, and then add rice wine to entertain the migrant workers. However, the family mistakenly cooked the pork with the wine and meat. The result was an unexpectedly rich and fragrant finished product.
People praised Dongpo’s contribution, so this unique dish was named “Dongpo Pork”. After continuous development by successive chefs, it later developed into the first famous dish in Hangzhou.