Wanzai is a small county in Yichun City, Jiangxi Province. Firecrackers are its traditional industry and it is known as the "Hometown of Firecrackers" in my country. People in Wanzai like to eat chili peppers. Unlike Sichuan and Hunan people who eat chili peppers, the chili peppers here are not only used as seasonings, but also as a side dish in themselves. Wanzai's locally grown peppers, commonly known as "yellow peppers", are thick-fleshed and long-bodied. Fresh chili peppers are spicy and sweet, and dried ones are even more spicy. Sun-dried yellow pepper is one of the important ingredients for making Wanzai minced meat.

Wanzai Chopped Meat

The fame of Wanzai Chopped Meat can be described in eight words: it rose quietly and spread like wildfire. Around 2000, the Wanzai Golden Triangle Vegetable Market was built and prospered day by day. Many nearby villagers sell their home-grown agricultural products here. Those who live nearby come with burdens, while those who live far away come on bicycles or motorcycles. In order to get a good position in the market, the men in the village set out from their homes before dawn, whether in spring, summer, autumn or winter, rain or shine. After working hard all morning, at twelve o'clock, several fellow villagers who came to sell vegetables got together to eat in a restaurant, and eating meat and drinking wine was a must. As we all know, in order to control costs, many restaurant operators do not use too many main ingredients. For example, stir-fried pork with chili is usually "chili and less meat". In addition, the meat in the restaurant will become less fresh if it is stored for a long time. So the fellow villagers usually choose to buy their own meat, and then pay some wages to have it processed by the chef.

Wanzai Chopped Meat

"Chop" means "buy" in Wanzai dialect, and there are a lot of people buying it, so "chopped meat" actually started out as " "Buying meat" means. In the past, if a guest came to her parents' house, the daughter-in-law would ask the men of the family to ride on the streets and chop up a few kilograms of meat. The fellow villagers chopped two kilograms of pork belly at the meat stall in the vegetable market and took it to a nearby restaurant for the chef to process it. If they like spicy food, they will add "add more dried chili peppers." Over time, the practice of "chopped meat" became more and more stable and developed into a famous local dish.

Wanzai Chopped Meat

So what are the characteristics of "Wanzai Chopped Meat"? I summarized it and have the following points:

1. The ingredients are authentic. It must be local "yellow pepper" from Wanzai, local garlic, and local pork;

2. The meat is rich and fresh. Pork is both fat and lean, and pork belly is the best. A bowl of minced pork requires at least one kilogram of pork, and even two or three kilograms if there are more people;

3. The cooking method is meticulous. For Wanzai minced meat, you usually fry fat meat in oil first, then add garlic stems and fry until cooked, then add dark soy sauce and salt, stir-fry for a while, then pour in oil and fry the meat alone, and finally add garlic and chili and stir-fry together.

Nowadays, almost all the restaurants in the Golden Triangle Vegetable Market are named "XX Chopped Meat Restaurant", and Wanzai locals treat foreign friends by inviting them to eat chopped meat in the Golden Triangle.