Covered Bowl Dish

Covered Bowl Dish

　　A covered bowl dish is a type of steamed pork with rice flour, known by this name in the Sichuan and Chongqing area.

Preparation: First, slices of meat are neatly arranged in an unglazed earthenware bowl—six slices laid lengthwise and the other two placed on either side. Then, cubed potatoes or sweet potatoes are placed on top of the meat. After steaming, the bowl is inverted onto a plate, resembling the appearance of pork with preserved vegetables.

In Henan, there are dozens of variations of the covered bowl dish.

Especially in Kaifeng, the former capital of the Song Dynasty known as Bianjing, the varieties of covered bowl dishes are even more numerous, and their flavors are simply exquisite. The most common include tender fried pork, mustard greens pork, fermented tofu pork, and meatballs. Vegetarian options include lotus root, tofu, and vegetarian meatballs.