The Fragrance of Pork

At one time the butcher shops of Soochow were variously called Genuine Straw Mat, Original Straw Mat, Old Straw Mat, etc., just because there is a story about an Immortal in disguise who flung a bit of mat into a pot of belly pork to give it a special fragrance. The fragrance is easy enough to produce. What is important is that it stands out in a clear field. Instead of being heavy, the pork should appear light; clean instead of messy; smooth instead of lumpy. The flavour of pork is effusive. While the cooking of chicken and beef means the careful carving out of its best flavour from the raw material, the flavours of pork must be restrained. At its best, pork is tender, sweet, fragrant, tasty, rich without being oily (in other words, nun, hsien, hsiang, nung, yu-er-pu-ni).