Daliang Wild Chicken Rolls

Daliang Wild Chicken Rolls

　　Daliang Wild Chicken Rolls

　　Daliang Wild Chicken Rolls, also known as Daliang Meat Rolls, are one of the more well-known dishes in Cantonese cuisine. They were created in the 1920s by Chef Dong Cheng at Yichunyuan Restaurant in Daliang. Though sharing the same name as the “Wild Chicken Rolls” recorded in Yuan Mei’s *Suiyuan Shidan* (Recipes from the Sui Garden) during the Qing Dynasty, they differ in ingredients and preparation. Made with slices of fatty pork, their characteristics include being crisp, flaky, deliciously aromatic with a hint of char, rich yet not greasy, and perfect with wine or tea.

　　Ingredients: 500g fatty pork sliced into pieces 20cm long, 14cm wide, and 1mm thick; 500g lean pork sliced thin; 100g cornstarch; 40g Shaoxing wine; 6g salt; 1 egg; 2.5g monosodium glutamate (MSG).

　　Preparation method:

　　1. First marinate the fatty pork slices with 25g of Shaoxing wine for 20 minutes. Then mix the lean pork slices with 15g of Shaoxing wine, salt, MSG, and an appropriate amount of egg yolk, and coat them with a thin layer of cornstarch.

　　2. Spread out the fatty pork slices coated with cornstarch, place the lean pork slices on top, covering two-thirds of the width; use the remaining one-third of the width to seal the edge by mixing egg white and cornstarch into a paste, then tightly roll into a cylindrical shape.

　　3. Steam until cooked, let cool, then cut into chess-piece-shaped slices about 0.5cm thick. Deep-fry in oil until golden brown, serve on a plate, and dip in Oiji sauce or seasoned salt.