Maping Braised Pork Knuckle Rice 马坪拐子饭

How it is made

The Guangshui city government describes whole pork legs being scraped of bristles and washed, then chopped with a cleaver into pieces of about four liang (四两), roughly 200 grams, each. The pieces go into a large iron pot about a metre across filled with brine, with brine spices, salt and other seasonings added as needed, and are braised on the stove.

The Suizhou city government gives a different traditional method: the knuckle and elbow of the pig are red-braised and then stewed in an earthenware jar until tender.

Flavour and texture

The guaizi (拐子), the knuckle, is described as working meat from the pig's leg. It is rich without being greasy, and the thick skin is full of gelatin. The Guangshui account says the meat is soft and falls apart in the mouth, fatty but not cloying and gelatinous without sticking to the teeth.

How it is eaten

What sets the dish apart, in both government accounts, is that it is eaten in the morning, as a real breakfast. A large bowl of rice comes with one knuckle, and diners choose freely from ten or more meat and vegetable side dishes, small fish among them. A small bowl of rice water, drawn off while the morning rice was cooking, is served alongside.

Where it comes from

Guangshui dates the dish to the 1990s, while the Suizhou city government, republishing a Suizhou Daily (随州日报) report, dates it to the 1980s. Both describe it as a snack of Maping town.