A well-known allusion is that Su Dongpo was exiled to Huangzhou and found that pork was not very popular there. Not only did the rich not eat it, but the poor did not know how to cook it. The cooked pork was very fatty. Lao Su invented his own method, putting half-fat and half-lean pork belly into a pot and simmering it over low heat. It turned out to be extremely delicious. He recommended this method to his friends, and the name "Dongpo Pork" spread. . Another version of this allusion is in Hangzhou. It is said that Su Dongpo once led the people of Hangzhou to dredge the West Lake, which finally restored the West Lake to its youth. The people of Hangzhou were so grateful that they carried pigs and wine to the prefect's mansion. Dongpo faced a problem with the piles of pork: There was so much pork that he couldn't finish it in three to five days. What should he do if it went bad? Later, I had an idea and asked the chef to cut the meat into cubes, use the method of stewing elbows in my hometown Meishan, combined with the taste characteristics of Hangzhou people, add ginger, green onions, brown sugar, cooking wine, soy sauce, simmer over a slow fire until it is tender and crispy, and then Then according to the roster of migrant workers dredging the West Lake, the meat will be distributed. When the migrant workers tasted the braised pork sent by Su Taishou, they felt that the taste was unusual and they all called it "Dongpo Pork". Since then, "Dongpo Pork" has spread more and more widely, and has become more and more refined, becoming a famous dish that is popular all over the country. Obviously, the two versions are very different. The method of "Dongpo Pork" in the previous version is very primitive. It is just boiled and slow-cooked white-cut meat. It was popular two thousand years ago. No matter how thick-skinned Su Dongpo is, he would not dare to say that it was his creation; the latter version is certainly The "Dongpo Pork" is a little more refined and nothing new. It's hard to believe that the chefs and gourmets who came before Lao Su couldn't invent braised pork. And when I looked through Dongpo's collected works, he never mentioned braised pork or cooking methods similar to braised pork. So these two statements, like most legends, are just fabrications with ulterior motives or nonsense.

But Su Dongpo did raise the status of pork to a higher level. When Lao Su was still alive, he actually cooked pork with his own hands. The method was very primitive. In his own words, it was called "clean the pan with less water, and the firewood will not burn the smoke. Don't rush it until it is ripe, and the fire will be done." When it is sufficient, it is beautiful by itself" (Su Shi's "Ode to Pork"). There is no secret to the whole process except "low fire and slow stewing", and "low fire and slow stewing" has long been a well-known method of cooking meat (probably except for Huangzhou people, or Huangzhou people have long known it) , and Lao Su thought that others didn’t know), it wasn’t really a secret.

However, Su Dongpo is easy to be self-satisfied and loves to brag. He cooked this boiled pork and when he tasted it, he happily wrote "Ode to Pork" and gave it to Su Dongpo. Friends send emails to show off to their neighbors. Every time they talk to someone, they show them how to cook pork. In view of his great fame, his secret of cooking pork also became famous all over the world with his self-promotion and the help of his fans, and the name "Dongpo Pork" came into being. Pork itself also has an elegant connotation because it is related to Su Dongpo. From then on, it lost the smell of pig hair and became more open-minded and happy-go-lucky.

The Dongpo pork that is now popular in restaurants across the country is naturally not as primitive and rough as the one cooked by Su Dongpo himself, and it has no inheritance relationship with Su Dongpo in terms of cooking method. The chefs have their own ideas when it comes to making Dongpo pork, either the Hubei style, which is braised pork in rice wine, or the Hangzhou style, which is braised pork. So far, I have tasted Dongpo Pork made by several well-known restaurant chains. If you knock me out with a stick before the dish is served, and then wake me up to eat it , if you ask me again what kind of meat it is, I will never be able to tell that it is Dongpo pork. Frankly speaking, it is no different from other braised pork or rice wine stewed pork, and it does not reflect what Dongpo pork should be. features. In fact, apart from the name "Dongpo Pork" and the two legends behind the name, it doesn't have any characteristics. Of course, it’s not just Dongpo Pork, but also other famous cultural foods. Apart from culture, it has no other characteristics.

Su Dongpo himself understood this truth. When he was alive, everyone said that the pork from Qianyang (now Qianyang, Shaanxi Province) was delicious and had a unique flavor that was different from other pigs. Lao Su asked his subordinates to go to Miyang and buy two ends. At the same time, he posted about it, inviting colleagues and friends to try Miyang pork. The subordinate who went to buy pigs actually bought authentic Miyang pigs. He got drunk on the way back from driving the pigs and let the pigs escape, so he had to buy two replacements elsewhere. When his subordinate came back, he told Dongpo the truth. Dongpo remained calm and asked the cook to kill the two pigs, and held the "Qianyang Whole Pig Feast" as usual.

The diners at the banquet were full of praise while tasting it, saying that the Qianyang pig was the Qianyang pig, and the taste was indeed unusual. Finally, Lao Su said: "Everyone, I regret to tell you that the pig I am today is from the butcher shop next door." Everyone was so embarrassed that their faces turned into pig livers.