Nowadays, pork is in an unshakable position in China. With less than one-fifth of the population, we consume nearly half of the global pork.

Actually, before the Ming Dynasty, Chinese people didn't like pork very much. At that time, mutton was more popular with people. In the Song Dynasty, there was a saying, "Su Wen is ripe and eats mutton; Su Wensheng, eat vegetable soup. " In Know No, which is set in the Song Dynasty, the main meat food at that time was mutton.

Moreover, Su Shi also wrote the current situation of pork in Ode to Pork: Huangzhou is good pork, and its price is as low as dirt. You refuse to eat, and the poor don't understand cooking. In the morning, you get up and make two bowls, so full that you can't care about it.

The reason why pork can become a national delicacy today is closely related to China's agriculture. As we know, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's population has been expanding, and the increase in population means that the demand for crops will increase, which makes people reclaim land and change pastoral areas that originally belonged to animals into agricultural areas.

When the cultivated area increases, the advantages of pigs will be revealed. We know that the soil needs to be fertilized regularly if it wants to maintain fertility. In the past, there was no chemical fertilizer, so people had to use farmyard manure. Pigs are good helpers in the production of farmyard manure.

a book in the Qing dynasty wrote, "when you are old and have a pig, you should raise it. After you sell it, you should only take its own money. You will accumulate 2 cars a year. Most of them will be paid according to the car, and the few will be compensated by selling pigs."

In addition, pigs are omnivores, and they can feed on agricultural by-products, such as wheat bran, straw and even grass. Because of this, pigs have flourished in China since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Coupled with China's vast territory and abundant resources, it is also very good at cooking, which unlocks many ways to eat pork and makes pork more closely combined with our dining table.