Taiyuan Liuweizhai Spiced Pork

The pork is a traditional and noted food in Taiyuan, fat but not greasy. It smells and tastes great. As an old saying goes, if people don't eat Liuweizhai, they can't be said to have visited Taiyuan.

One of the most famous Liuweizhai products is the spiced upper part of a pork leg. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, this cut of meat was an imperial tribute and it was said that Empress Dowager Cixi granted people who sent one to her palace a waist tag, which was a special permit.

Liuweizhai is among the few time-honored brands in China's food industry that date back more than 200 years and still exist. It uses pork with thin skin, neither fat nor thin, and cuts the meat into cubes that are 15 centimeters wide and 24 cm long. Clean cubes are usually put into cold water for eight to nine hours to rid them of blood.

First, they are cooked for one to one and half hours and while cooking, 1.5 kilograms of salt are added for each 50 kg of pork. Then, the meat cubes are put into a pot, with a yarn bag of cinnamon, star anise, Sichuan pepper, fresh ginger, Amomum villosum and cardamom. The ingredients form a kind of soup and the meat cubes are later put onto a dish to become cool. Lastly, the soup is brushed onto the skin as a final touch.