Dong Po Rou or Braised Pork Belly

 Dong Po Rou (东坡肉) is a traditional dish of braised pork belly, supposedly created by Su Dong Po (January 8, 1037 – August 24, 1101), a famous writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song dynasty. Over the centuries, this Braised Pork Belly Dong Po Rou dish has become very popular, and once you taste it, you’ll know why.

Dong po rou is a traditional dish of braised pork belly attributed to Su Dong Po (Jan 8 1038 - August 1101), a famous writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome and statesman of the Song Dynasty.

Su Dong Po wrote more than 2000 poems. His greatest  writing was Chibifu, or Red Cliffs Rhapsody, which commemorated the fierce battle at Red Cliffs (AD 208-209) in which the outnumbered forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan cunningly defeated the strong army of Northern General Cao Cao. The victory led to the collapse of Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) leading to the founding of the Three Kingdoms (AD 220-280).

Su's ode to the victory is essential reading for Mainland China's primary school students.

He died at age 66 in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province..

dong po rou must be secured with twines. A story was told that su Dong Po wanted to thank his poor workers with gifts of his braised belly pork. He tied them with twine as shown in the photo so that these people could carry the gift back to their homes.

Ever since that time this dish must be prepared in this way.

The belly pork is braised slowly with yellow wine until the meat is so soccullent that it can be cut by a pair of chopsticks.

All good Hangzhou restaurants serve this dish. the popularity of the dish has even spread to South East Asia.