Pork recipe from 2200 years ago, How to cook pork in the Rites of Zhou

[fireball9261]

There was a recipe for pork in the Rites of Zhou (周禮/周礼) (compiled around in 2nd century B.C. according to modern scholars).

1. Kill a pig or a ram. Open its belly, take out the insides, and clean out the blood.

2. Fill its belly with dates.

3. Wrap it with reeds, and cover the outside of the reeds with clay.

4. Put 3 into the open fire until the clay is dried.

5. When the clay is dried, take out the outer shell. Then use hand to remove its fur.

6. Make a dry paste with rice flour, and cover it with the rice paste.

7. Put 6 into warm oil to lightly fry it. The oil must cover the pig (or ram).

8. Put the fried pig (or ram) in a ding3 鼎. Put the ding in a great pot, and put water in the pot. The water must not go over the ding.

9. Use fire (probably small fire) to cook 8 for 3 days and 3 nights.

10. Season it with vinegar (醯 xi) and meat sauce (醢 hai3) once it was done.

Anyone want to try the recipe?

[OracleBone]

Hehe, only noblemans were permited to cook pork in that way at that time, the poor people even have no chance to eat pork.

Noblemans use these complicated manners as a weapon to defend their privileges from the ordinary people.

[trufflepig]

curses, i only just threw out my Ding.

[cdn_in_bj]

I wouldn't mind trying the results - I've been dying to have 烤全羊!

Well, it's close enough to a ram, right?

[heifeng]

I'm pretty sure you are missing a key part of the recipe. You will likely have to specify the optimal weight of the pig. Otherwise you are just asking for uneven cooking and trichnosis or something!

[trufflepig]

i'd be up for making this the first of an annual chinese-forums.com rites of zhou cook off, could be fun.

Take a weekend in dec, choose a place somewhere north south west whatever, get ourselves some outback, a pig and some reeds (and some bottles of whiskey) some tents, a bonfire..... could be good. any takers?

[gougou]

you are just asking for uneven cooking

After 3 days and 3 nights, I'd be surprised if there was any part of the pig still uncooked. Heck, you could roast an elephant in that time...

[gougou]

could be good. any takers?

I'm in. And hey, look, I found a pig already. Mmh, truffle sounds even better than dates!

[heifeng]

hehe...a trufflepig does sound quite appetizing....

actually this recipe reminds me of the south american cooking techniques for guinea pigs....maybe a mini version hehe

[trufflepig]

fine me this year then, but you wait till next years Rites of Eastern Jin cook off, when its 3 days and 3 nights of 狗狗肉

[trufflepig]

how many guinea pigs can one fit in a Ding?

[fireball9261]

Hi trufflepig,

If you threw out your Ding, wouldn't you make a din on your Ding?

Also, you can fit a lot of guinea pigs in a Ding. I bet they taste good.

Anyway, the first part of the recipe is also the way to make the begger's chicken in more modern Chinese cooking. You just stop at taking the feathers off and seasoning it a little with salt and pepper. I have never tried it -- I don't want to deal with a chicken with feathers!

Btw, the traditional way of the begger's chichen recipe started with: First, you steal a chicken from you neighbor's yard.