Pork Belly Braised with Sweet Potato Starch Balls 山粉圆子烧肉

How it is made

The starch comes first. At a hotel in Susong the cooks extract it by hand: they choose red-skinned, white-fleshed sweet potatoes, wash them and grind them to a pulp, wash the starch out with water and filter off the fibre and grit. The starchy water settles overnight, the clear water on top is scooped away, and the damp starch left at the bottom dries over several days into lumps, which are ground evenly and stored. A little salt can be mixed in when the starch is made up.

The starch balls (山粉圆子) take two forms, both called by the same name: starch mixed with water and rolled into balls, or a thin batter spread in an oiled pan, fried on both sides until a crust forms and the middle is cooked through, then cut into even pieces. The pancake is the harder version; if it is too thick the centre stays raw.

For the braise, pork belly is stir-fried until its fat runs and it turns golden brown, then spring onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and salt go in, followed by water. When the meat is cooked, and before the liquid has boiled away, the starch pieces are added. They take up the pork fat and turn translucent, and the dish comes off the heat as the sauce is nearly dry, scattered with chopped spring onion.

Flavour and texture

The brown, translucent starch pieces are described as smooth, soft and springy, sticky but not heavy, and oily without being greasy, because they absorb the richness of the pork. The hotel's manager says sweet-potato starch takes especially well to animal fat, and that although it can also be cooked with chicken or fish, its best partner is pork from locally raised pigs.

It has to be eaten hot. As it cools the starch hardens, and reheating does not bring back the soft, chewy centre.

Where it comes from

Anqing lies on the north bank of the Yangtze at the foot of the Dabie Mountains (大别山), in hilly country well suited to sweet potatoes. The dish is said to have begun in Susong and later spread to other parts of Anqing, with small differences between counties and households. Years ago it was something of a luxury on ordinary tables; it is now a common dish in Anqing homes and restaurants.