As a classic dish in Huaihai region, bazi meat belongs to Shandong cuisine and originated in ancient Xuzhou. Xuzhou is located at the junction of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui provinces, where five major cuisines such as Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine, Hunan cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine blend with each other, but bazi meat stands out among many cuisines. What is its origin?
According to legend, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei appreciated each other and decided to worship and drink the wine. Because Zhang Fei is a butcher, he slaughtered a pig and cooked pork, tofu, eggs and other ingredients in a pot. Later, in the Sui Dynasty, a famous chef in Shandong improved this practice by carefully selecting pork with skin, stewing it in a jar and seasoning it with secret soy sauce. Stewed meat is fat but not greasy, thin but not firewood, with bright color and mellow taste, which is deeply loved by ordinary people. This practice, coupled with the legend of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's sworn brothers, has become the meat of today.
Some people say that the meat is like the character of Xuzhou people, with rough appearance and meticulous heart. This kind of food full of Xuzhou characteristics is exactly what we Xuzhou people can't forget, and it is the most primitive food memory and inheritance.
In the 1970s, there were only a handful of two or three restaurants in Xuzhou. Children were greedy, so adults spent twenty or thirty cents to buy two pieces and go home to relieve their children's greed. Now, after decades of development, bazi meat has become a "local specialty dish" named by the national catering industry association, and many restaurants, restaurants or food stalls have started bazi meat. Walking in the streets of Xuzhou, you can smell the smell of bazi meat everywhere. It was noon. A bowl of rice, a piece of meat, and different side dishes such as vegetarian chicken, kelp and vegetables. You can eat comfortably for ten dollars. If you eat with a few friends and drink a few bottles of beer, you can have a good time for only a few tens of dollars.
At present, some cities have opened small restaurants selling bazi meat, mostly in the name of "authentic Xuzhou bazi meat" Then why can Xuzhou bazi meat spread thousands of miles and be liked by so many people? Because pork belly is cooked with the best pork belly, it has a special fat but not greasy taste. Although it is made of thick oil red sauce, it is not salty, just for the next meal. The combination of rice and meat just brings out both rice and meat. Braised pork is just the general name of this snack, and there are other auxiliary dishes to match it, such as Four Joy Meetballs, dried orchids, kelp knots, gluten, bean gluten, bean skin, yuba, rotten clothes, vegetarian chicken slices, tiger skin eggs, day lilies, small vegetables, beans, sausages, ribs, elbows, chicken legs and other vegetarian dishes, which can meet the different dietary needs of customers.
In fact, the process of making bazi meat is not complicated. As a famous dish unique to Xuzhou, ordinary people can also make bazi meat delicious. Cut the fat and thin pork belly into long strips, tie them together with hemp rope, cook them, and stew them in soy sauce until crisp and rotten. Pork is cooked with soy sauce, without salt and sugar. It is stewed in a high crock with only anise sauce. When the heat is enough, it is sealed together and the fragrance is overflowing. Pour the meat and juice on the white rice while it is hot. It's very delicious.
There is flesh and blood, and Xuzhou people are affectionate and righteous.