Dongpo pork is said to have been created by Su Shi, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty (one said that Wang Chaoyun, a concubine of Su Shi, created it to improve her diet when Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou), and its earliest birthplace was Meishan, Sichuan. The prototype is Xuzhou giving back meat, which is one of the "four treasures of Dongpo" in Xuzhou.
According to legend, in April, the tenth year of Xining in Song Shenzong, Su Shi went to Xuzhou to be the magistrate. The Yellow River burst on July 7th, and the flood besieged Xuzhou on August 21st. Su Shi died by himself, and the people of the whole city fought floods and built dikes to protect the city. After more than 70 days and nights of hard work, Xuzhou City was finally saved.
In order to thank this well-known state, they slaughtered pigs and sheep one after another, carrying wine and vegetables to the government to comfort them. Su Shi couldn't refuse. After accepting it, he personally instructed his family to make braised pork and gave it back to the people who participated in the flood control. After eating, the people all think that this meat is fat but not greasy, crisp and delicious, and unanimously call it gift meat.
On February 1st, the third year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou as an assistant of Yong ying. Su Shi cultivated land by himself, cooked braised pork by himself and wrote his experience in Eating Pork Poetry.
On January 3rd, four years in Yuan You, Song Zhezong, Su Shi came to Ren Zhizhou, Hangzhou, where he had been away for fifteen years. During May and June of five years in Yuan You, there was heavy rain in the west of Zhejiang, Taihu Lake flooded and large areas of crops were flooded. Because Su Shi took effective measures as early as possible, the people in western Zhejiang passed through the most difficult period. Su Shi organized migrant workers to dredge the West Lake, build dikes and bridges, and make the West Lake look new.
The people in Hangzhou are very grateful to Su Shi for this good deed. Everyone praises Su Shi as a wise official. I heard that Su Shi liked pork best when he was in Xuzhou and Huangzhou, so when the Chinese New Year came, everyone carried pigs and carried wine to pay a New Year call to Su Shi. After Su Shi received it, he instructed his family to cut the meat into cubes and burn it red and crisp, and then distributed it to the migrant workers who participated in dredging the West Lake. Everyone was surprised after eating it, and all the meat sent by Su Shi was affectionately called Dongpo Meat.
Tracing back to the source, Su Shi's braised pork was first created in Xuzhou, further improved in Huangzhou, and became famous throughout the country in Hangzhou.
Brief introduction of Su Shi
Su Shi, with the word Zi Zhan and the word He Zhong, is known as Tieguan Taoist and Dongpo layman, known as Su Dongpo, Su Xian and Poxian in the world, Han nationality, Meishan, Meizhou, whose ancestral home is Luancheng, Hebei Province, a writer, calligrapher, gourmet, painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, and a historical water control celebrity.
Su Shi was a literary leader in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and made great achievements in poetry, ci, prose, calligraphy and painting. The text is vertical and horizontal; Poetry has a broad theme, fresh and healthy, uses exaggerated metaphors and has a unique style. It is also called Su Huang with Huang Tingjian. Ci is an uninhibited school, and Xin Qiji is the representative of the uninhibited school, and he is also called Su Xin; Prose writing is rich and unrestrained, and it is also called Ousu with Ouyang Xiu, one of the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties. Su Shi's good book, one of Song Sijia; He is good at literati painting, especially at ink bamboo, strange stones and dead wood.
His works include Seven Episodes of Dongpo, Yi Zhuan of Dongpo, Dongpo Yuefu, Xiaoxiang Bamboo Stone Map, Strange Stone Map of Dead Trees, etc.