Fruit of the South

譚云飛

Lychees， water chestnuts， and crispy pork…Whats not to like about this succulent Fujian dish？

荔枝肉：酸甜可口，不是荔枝，勝似荔枝

“Asteed raising red dust won the fair mistress smiles/ But few knew how many steeds died bringing her lychees from the south，” wrote the poet Du Mu （杜牧） in the Tang dynasty （618 – 907）， satirizing Emperor Xuanzongs reckless indulgence of his favorite concubine， Yang Guifei.

Yet even if one believes all the （dubious） claims about Yangs extravagance， she was unfairly blamed for this particular excess. According to one legend， Emperor Xuanzong did indeed transport fresh lychees thousands of miles from southern China to his capital of Changan （present day Xian） in the north， but this was as a favor to Consort Mei， his lover before he met Yang. Lychee pork， or 荔枝肉 （l#zh～r7u）， a traditional dish of Fujian province， is also said to have been created for Consort Mei.

As the legend goes， Consort Mei was a native of Putian， Fujian， a major lychee growing region. After joining the emperors harem， she fell into low spirits and lost her appetite due to homesickness. To cheer her up， a chef surnamed Jiang， who had accompanied Consort Mei from home， rolled pork slices into the shape of lychees， fried them， and then stewed them with sweet-and-sour seasonings. This later became known as lychee pork.

Crispy， tender， and aromatic， the dish immediately won the hearts of Consort Mei and the emperor， who was soon invited for a taste. Seeing how much the consort missed home， the emperor ordered the delivery of lychees from Putian. Lychee pork was regularly served in Consort Meis palace during her lifetime， and after her death during the An Lushan Rebellion （755 – 763）， Chef Jiang brought the dish back to Putian.

This heartwarming tale， though， has been refuted by many scholars， including the 20th century writer Lu Xun （魯迅）， who believed that Consort Mei was fictional. The earliest reliable record of lychee pork appeared in the recipe book Suiyuan Shidan by Yuan Mei （袁枚）， a scholar and gourmand from the Qing dynasty （1616 – 1911）. Yuans recipe calls for pork slices to be boiled in water， fried， and stewed in wine and soy sauce. In the modern version， the pork slices are finely cut in a crisscross pattern to make them easier to shape. Water chestnuts are added， or sometimes potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Water chestnuts， mainly grown in Guangxi， Fujian， and some regions of southern and central China， are nicknamed “underground ginseng.” They serve as a fruit， vegetable， as well as medicine in Chinese cooking. According to Ming dynasty （1368 –