Suzhou Sauce Meat

Suzhou Sauce Meat

　　Suzhou’s cooked and cured meats have a long history, known for their excellent color, aroma, and flavor. Among them, sauce meat is especially popular. According to local customs in Suzhou, from just before Qingming Festival until after Lixia (Start of Summer), many people enjoy buying sauce meat as a seasonal delicacy. Tourists from other regions also flock to purchase it for its fame.

　　It is said that sauce meat has been on the market for more than 200 years. Originally called "wine-braised sauce meat," it used red rouge as a coloring agent. Later, red rice was used for coloring, and the dish came to be known as sauce meat. Among the most famous shops selling Suzhou sauce meat is Lügaosai, a renowned cooked food establishment. This shop is particularly strict about ingredient selection, meticulous in preparation, and refined in recipe, truly offering a unique specialty.

　　The cooking process begins with fresh pork ribs that have an appropriate balance of fat and lean. The bones are removed, the breast meat is cut away, and the pork is cut into cubes. Then it is placed in a pot with water and red rice and boiled together, a step called “reddening the meat.” This usually takes about an hour to achieve a bright red color. The meat is then taken out, rinsed with clean water, and placed in another empty pot. At this stage, the bottom and sides of the pot are lined with bamboo mats, on which a layer of pig’s head meat is placed. The ratio is 10 pounds of pork ribs to one pig’s head for padding. Around the edges, pig’s tongue and spare ribs are added. Once seasonings such as cinnamon, fennel, ginger, scallions, salt, and others are also placed in, the “reddened” meat is arranged in the center of the pot. After arranging the meat, the broth from the “reddening” step is poured into the pot until the meat is fully submerged. The pot is then tightly covered, brought to a rapid boil for 20 minutes, and then soy sauce and Shaoxing wine are added. It is then boiled rapidly for another 1 hour and 40 minutes. Next, two basins of the braising liquid are removed from the pot, and sugar is added before boiling again for 30 minutes. Once cooked, the meat is lifted out piece by piece using bamboo skewers.

　　When removing the meat, ensure the heat under the pot is not turned off. Keep it at a low simmer until all the meat is taken out, otherwise the meat will release too much oil. After the meat is removed, the remaining broth in the pot is mixed with red rice water and sugar and simmered into a thin paste. When customers come to buy, the red braising sauce can be poured over the meat on the spot—freshly ladled—to maintain the characteristics of the sauce meat: “peach-red in color, sweet but not greasy, tender but not mushy, melting in the mouth.”