Yingjiang Dai Fire-Roasted Pig 火烧乳猪

Yingjiang Dai Fire-Roasted Pig (火烧乳猪) is a whole pig roasted over an open fire, a traditional dish of the Dai (傣族) people of Yingjiang County (盈江县) in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture (德宏傣族景颇族自治州), Yunnan. Yunnan media also call it fire-roasted pig (火烧猪). The Dai making technique was added to Yunnan's fifth provincial list of intangible cultural heritage in 2022.

How it is made

Cooks use a local small-eared pig (小耳猪) of about 80 jin, roughly 40 kg. After slaughter the belly cavity is filled with washed miantao leaves (缅桃叶) and lemongrass, and sewn shut with strips of bamboo. The whole pig is run through with a bamboo pole and turned slowly over charcoal, while plant ash mixed with salt water is brushed over the skin again and again; the Dehong prefecture media centre says this keeps the meat moist and gives the skin an amber crust. The roasting takes about three hours and the heat is judged by experience.

How it is eaten

The golden skin is crisp and the meat stays tender and juicy. In Dehong roast pork is set out in slices on a woven bamboo tray, and the Yingjiang dip is built on vinegar with charred chillies, garlic, fish mint (折耳根) and coriander, bound with pig's brain and minced tenderloin. The sour, hot dip cuts the richness of the pork.

Where it comes from

Local lore traces the dish to a Dai chieftain (土司) who served a whole pig to honour the guests at a celebration of the union of two great families, and it became the dish without which, as the saying goes, no banquet is complete. At the end of 2023 it was chosen as Dehong's dish in Yunnan's 'one prefecture, one dish' (一州一菜) selection. In April 2026 the fifth Yingjiang fire-roasted pig contest was held at Lameng village (拉勐村) in Pingyuan town (平原镇) during the county's Dai and De'ang water-splashing festival, with 23 teams competing.