Su Dongpo was very unsatisfactory in his official career throughout his life, so he was demoted many times, which also revealed his foodie attributes. Later, wherever he was demoted, a dish about him would be spread in the local area.
1. Dongpo meat. When Su Dongpo was demoted to Huangzhou, people were too lazy to eat local pork because there was too much pork and it was cheap. After Su Dongpo arrived, he invented a new way of eating. Choose the best pork belly, boil it over high heat, add cold water to remove the foam, and then stew it slowly over low heat. The resulting Dongpo pork is fat but not greasy and very delicious.
2. Dongpo elbow. This time Su Dongpo was demoted to Meizhou, Sichuan again. When he stewed the elbow at home, he accidentally burnt it, so he quickly added various ingredients and cooked it to cover up the burnt smell. Unexpectedly, he stewed this famous dish instead.
3. Dongpo cake. It was during Su Dongpo's stay in Huangzhou that he made improvements to the Thousand-Layer Pastry. He kneaded the flour into thin strips, fried it with sesame oil and sprinkled it with sugar, making it sweet and crispy.
4. Dongpo Tofu. When Su Dongpo was demoted to Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, he got along with the Buddhist monk Foyin of the local Jinshan Temple. Because the monks mostly ate vegetarian food, Su Dongpo personally cooked tofu for Foyin to eat, which is what we later knew as Dongpo. Tofu.
5. Dongpo fish. Su Dongpo liked to eat fish very much, and often cooked fish for himself. As long as it was fish, he would accept almost all fish, and even dared to eat the highly poisonous puffer fish. In short, he would not leave anything swimming in the water behind.
It is said that there are about sixty dishes named after Su Dongpo in history. Of course, these good dishes must be paired with good wine. Su Dongpo also tinkered with winemaking, brewing rice wine in Huangzhou, pine wine in Dingzhou, and osmanthus wine in Huizhou. In short, it is not an exaggeration to say that Su Dongpo is the originator of foodies.