Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork; where’s the fish?

Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork is one of the most famous and accepted Chinese dishes. You might have seen “Yu-Shiang Rou Si” on the menu of a restaurant. Besides spicy Hot Pot, this dish is another eye-catching representative of the Sichuan cuisine. Although it’s called Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork, there’s no fish in the dish – not even the fish sauce that’s featured in lots of Chinese dishes. So, where does the name come from?

Legend has it that there was a family that loved to eat fish in Sichuan a very long time ago, fully spiced up put scallions, ginger, garlic, wine, vinegar, soy sauce and other seasonings. One day, when the hostess finished cooking, she found some ingredients left in the pan. In order to make full use of the ingredients, she used these into another dish, a shredded pork. That’s how the worldly famous dish was invented.

As you might know, the Chinese are always aiming to achieve the right (and delicious) balance of salty, sweet, sour, spicy and bitter; this all is combined in the dish. Besides the right seasonings and flavors, it’s also important to take the healthy benefits of the ingredients into account. In this dish, it comes down to pork tenderloin, bamboo shoots, black “wood ear” fungus, and carrots. All these ingredients are cut into strips and cooked in the same pot. The bamboo shoots are healthy, create freshness, and are traditionally used because of the abundancy in the Sichuan province. Moreover, the black fungus has a positive effect on our blood circulation, heart health, and chronic disease. Hence, not only delicious but also nutritious!

We will teach you how to make Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork yourself in our next blog. Follow us and stay up-to-date!