Lychee pork or lizhi rou (; Eastern Min: liĕk-chiĕ-nṳ̆k) is a well known dish in Fujianese cuisine. It consists of small pieces of deep-fried pork and sliced water chestnuts served in a sweet and sour sauce. Its bright red colour is derived from

red yeast rice Red yeast rice (), red rice ''koji'' (べにこうじ, lit. 'red ''koji), red fermented rice, red kojic rice, red ''koji'' rice, ''anka'', or ''angkak'', is a bright reddish purple fermented rice, which acquires its color from being cultivate ...

. The sauce is now commonly made with

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among o ...

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

and

rice vinegar Rice vinegar is a vinegar made from fermented rice in East Asia (China, Japan and Korea), as well as in Vietnam in Southeast Asia. It is used as a seasoning, dressing, and dipping in many dishes, including sushi, jiaozi, and banchans. Some of i ...

History

Lychee pork is commonly associated with the cuisines of

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute ...

and

Putian Putian or Putien (, Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Xinghua or Hing Hwa (), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, China. It borders Fuzhou City to the no ...

. Its creation is traced to the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

and is considered to be characteristic of Min cuisine. Despite its name, the dish does not contain lychee. Its name is instead derived from the appearance of the dish in which the red and curled fried pieces of pork resemble the look of

lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (t ...

skin. The origin of the dish is attributed to a legend involving Mei, a royal consort of the Xuanzong Emperor of the Jiang clan. The consort, who came from

was said to be frequently homesick, due to the distance of the imperial court from her hometown. Lychees from Putian were said to cure her despondency, but were rarely available due to the difficulty of transporting the fruit. It is believed that the chef employed by Mei, Jiang (), devised a recipe to cook meat so that it resembled those lychees. Mei was later killed in the

Anshi Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general off ...

, and the chef was believed to have escaped and fled back to Fujian, bringing the dish with him.

Lychee pork in the USA

Outside China, lychee pork forms the rudiments of some famous Chinese restaurant dishes. Today, many similarities between lychee pork and chicken/pork balls can still be found. Additional vegetable ingredients include yams, tomatoes, and green onions.

References

{{Fujian topics Fujian cuisine Chinese cuisine Pork dishes

History

Lychee pork in the USA

See also

References