Delicious Spicy Sauce, Fried Pork Ribs, Braised Pig's Trotters, and Sixi Meat are four of the famous dishes from Meiwei Zhai. Meiwei Zhai has been serving various dishes for over fifty years, renowned for its meticulous selection of ingredients, fine preparation, and unique color, aroma, and flavor.
Ingredients: Four jin of high-quality japonica rice (preferably rice from Changshu or Wuxi), three liang and eight qian of sugar, one liang and three qian of salt, two jin and five liang of bok choy, two liang of chili paste, eight jin of pork leg, two liang of Shaoxing wine, four jin of bamboo shoots, two liang of soy sauce, two liang and four qian of large dried shrimp, a small amount of dark soy sauce, four jin of five-spiced tofu, six liang and five qian of lard, three liang and one qian of sweet bean paste, and three jin of peanut oil (with about two liang and five qian consumed).
Method
1. Wash the japonica rice clean, pick out any debris, drain the water, and let it sit for three hours before use. Peel the old leaves and stalks from the bok choy, leaving about two jin and two liang and five qian (more can be used when the vegetable is tender. Generally, use two jin and five liang after the tenth lunar month, or two jin in hot weather). Wash the bok choy leaves one by one in water, then cut them into six to seven fen long segments (can be cut shorter in summer, about five to seven fen long), and drain the water.
2. In an iron wok, add four liang and five qian of lard. Heat it over high flame until it's six parts hot. Add the bok choy and stir-fry for four to five minutes. Then add the salt (five qian and five fen) and water (four to four jin and five liang). When the water boils, add the washed rice and gently stir it along the sides of the wok with a spatula. As the water in the wok gradually decreases, increase the speed of stirring and correspondingly reduce the heat. When the rice and water are fully blended and the grains have swollen (after about twelve minutes), spread the rice flat. Use a round stick, four to five fen in diameter, to poke several holes through the rice to the bottom of the wok. Cover the wok. When steam rushes out rapidly, seal the fire opening halfway or use the remaining heat from the wood to steam for another five minutes. The pork and vegetable rice is now ready.
3. Skin, bone, and trim the fat from the pork leg, then cut it into one fen cubes. Cut the winter bamboo shoots and five-spiced tofu into three fen cubes. Soak the dried shrimp in Shaoxing wine for fifteen minutes. Then, add the peanut oil to a wok and heat it over high flame. Add the tofu cubes in two batches and deep-fry for one and a half minutes each time, then remove them when they become crispy.
4. Add the pork cubes to the wok, add one jin and five liang of water, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam, remove the pork, and filter the blood foam from the broth through a copper sieve. Return the pork cubes to the wok, add another five liang of water, bring to a boil, then move to a low flame and simmer for twenty minutes. Add the bamboo shoot cubes, tofu cubes, dried shrimp, Shaoxing wine, sweet bean paste, salt (seven qian and five fen), sugar, dark soy sauce, and chili paste. Mix well, then cook for another fifteen minutes until the pork is tender and the broth has reduced to about one jin and three liang. Keep it warm by the stove, ready to serve (can serve twenty plates). When serving, a bowl of the rice dish is presented alongside a plate of the spicy sauce.
Characteristics: Rice Dish: The vegetables are green and crisp, the rice grains are white, glossy, fragrant, soft, and rich. A ladle of rich meat sauce poured over it makes it exceptionally delicious.
Delicious Spicy Sauce: Golden in color with crispy and fragrant meat. It is sweet with a spicy kick, appetizing and palatable.