Ode to Pork [Song Dynasty] Su Shi

When washing the pan, use less water, and the firewood stick will not smoke. Don't rush him until he is mature. When the heat is sufficient, he will be beautiful. Huangzhou’s good pork is as cheap as dirt. The rich refuse to eat, and the poor don't know how to cook. When they get up in the morning, they take two bowls and they are so full that no one cares about them. Translation and annotation of chanting things

Translation: Clean the pot, put a little water in it, burn firewood and weeds, suppress the fire, and simmer it with a weak fire that does not emit flames. Wait for it to cook slowly on its own, don't rush it, when the heat is enough, it will naturally taste delicious. There is such good pork in Huangzhou, but the price is as cheap as dirt; rich people don't want to eat it, and poor people don't know how to cook it. I'll make two bowls of it when I get up in the morning. Don't worry about it when I'm full.

Comments Dang: pot.罨(yǎn): cover up, cover up. Firewood: firewood, firewood, weeds, etc. used for fuel. Solution: Understand. Appreciation

"When you clean the pan, use less water, and the firewood will not smoke."

Although "cleaning the pan" means getting ready for cooking, it actually reflects the pious and serious attitude when doing things or cultivating the body and mind. This is how you cook meat and do everything you do. Readers can get a glimpse of Su Shi's rigor and sincerity in cultivating his body and mind from this careful "cleaning of the pan". "If there is less water, the firewood can't hold up the smoke." The water should be neither too much nor too little, and the fire should be neither too big nor too small. Only by stewing in this way can the meat be cooked well and taste well. Su Shi told us that in specific practice, every link must be done steadily and carefully, and there must be no carelessness.