Pork liver stuffed with fatty pork

Pork liver stuffed with fatty pork

　　This dish is made with cured pork liver and cured fatty pork. The specific method is as follows: in winter, clean the pork liver, drain the blood, cut it into pieces, mix in white pepper, coarse salt, and Sanhua wine, place it in a basin, cover it, and marinate it for one day and one night. Then hang it in a ventilated place to dry. When the pork liver is about 70% dry, take it down, place it on a wooden board, shape it into strips, then place another wooden board on top of the liver, and put a stone mill or stone slab on that to add weight, pressing it for one day and one night. This process flattens the liver into block shapes, increases its density, and makes it less likely to fall apart or break when sliced later, resulting in a better texture. The method for making the fatty pork is as follows: cut the fatty pork from the pig’s back, including the skin, into 3–4 cm wide pieces, scrape and wash them clean, place them in a basin with an appropriate amount of coarse salt, rock sugar, and Sanhua wine, cover, and marinate for one day and one night. Then hang them in a ventilated place to air-dry. When eating, place the cured pork liver and fatty pork together in a steamer to steam (with the liver placed under the fatty pork). Then slice the liver thinly, peel the fatty pork, and cut it into chunks. Stack one piece of fatty pork with one slice of liver alternately in a serving dish, then return it to the steamer to steam briefly. The pork liver turns a dark soy-sauce purple and has a uniquely flavorful taste; the fatty pork is white and translucent, with a grainy mouthfeel. One piece of liver and one piece of fatty pork are served together in a single bite, creating an incomparably delicious flavor that often leads guests to unconsciously eat half a pound of fatty pork.

　　This dish is rarely available and is usually only served to honored guests around the Spring Festival. Locals specifically prepare this dish to welcome a son-in-law who is visiting his wife’s family for the first time during the Lunar New Year. Because “pork liver stuffed with fatty pork” is fragrant yet slightly bitter and greasy, there is a local saying: “Only those who endure bitterness can rise above,” and “The more fat you eat, the tougher you get.” Therefore, parents-in-law specially make this dish to test whether their new son-in-law is someone who can “endure hardship and work hard.” During meals, the family members accompanying the son-in-law often secretly note how many pieces of “pork liver stuffed with fatty pork” he eats, using this to judge his character and health. If he dares not eat the dish, it is considered a sign of poor health or character, hence the saying “Endurance of hardship shows in liver and fat.”