Shangzhi Pork
This dish has a rosy color, tender texture, rich but not greasy, and a strong shangzhi aroma. It is a unique local specialty of Shangxian, Shaanxi. Since shangzhi is a Shaanxi specialty, the ingredients are hard to obtain and it is not easy to make.
Ingredients and Tools
- Skin-on pork belly (boneless)
- Shangzhi (also called ziqi, a fern; tender leaves are edible)
- Scallion
- Ginger
- Star anise
- Honey
- Vinegar
- Cooking wine
- MSG
- Soy sauce
- Pan-fried egg sheet
- Fine salt
- Chicken stock
- Sesame oil
- Rendered pork lard
Measurements
- Skin-on pork belly: 500 克
- Shangzhi: 50 克
- Scallion: 10 克
- Ginger: 2 克
- Star anise: 3 个
- Honey: 15 克
- Vinegar: 5 克
- Cooking wine: 15 克
- MSG: 1.5 克
- Soy sauce: 10 克
- Pan-fried egg sheet: 一张约 15 克
- Fine salt: 1 克
- Chicken stock: 200 克
- Sesame oil: 10 克
- Rendered pork lard: 2000 克（消耗约 60 克）
Steps
- Scrape and wash the pork clean, put it into a pot and boil until about 60% cooked (turns white). Remove while hot and coat the skin with honey and vinegar.
- Heat rendered lard in a wok over high heat until about 80% hot (about 200 degrees, lots of blue smoke on the surface, oil looks calm). Put the pork in skin-side down and fry until golden red. Remove into the cooling meat pot (the pot used for boiling earlier) to soften, place on the board, and cut into slices 3 cun (10 cm) long and 2 fen (0.6 cm) thick. Keep skin-side down and arrange neatly in a steaming bowl.
- Cut 5 克 scallion into 2.4 cm long sections, and 5 克 into 2.4 cm long diagonal slices. Peel and wash the ginger; slice 1.5 克 and mince 5 克. Cut the pan-fried egg sheet into 2.4 cm long isosceles triangular pieces.
- Boil shangzhi in a pot of boiling water until soft, remove, discard old stems and impurities, rinse clean, cut into 3 cm sections, put in a bowl, add soy sauce (5 克), fine salt (1 克), and rendered pork lard (10 克), mix well, and cover over the pork slices. Separately, put chicken stock (100 克) into a small bowl, add soy sauce (5 克), fine salt (0.5 克), and cooking wine (15 克), stir well, and pour into the steaming bowl. Add ginger slices, scallion sections, and star anise, steam over high heat for about 30 minutes, then switch to low heat and continue steaming for about 1 hour 30 minutes. When tender, remove, discard ginger, scallion, and star anise, pour off and strain the original juices, and invert the pork into a soup plate.
- In a wok, add chicken stock (100 克), add the original juices, bring to a boil over high heat, add minced ginger, scallion slices, and MSG, stir well, add the pan-fried egg sheet, drizzle sesame oil, and pour over the soup plate to finish.
Notes
- Shangzhi is a small local specialty and not well known; at least I have not seen it elsewhere. When making it, you can substitute other fern vegetables. If you follow this guide and find any problems or improvements, please submit an Issue or Pull request.