Suizhou Stir-Fried Pork with Paopao Greens 随州泡泡青炒肉

Suizhou Stir-Fried Pork with Paopao Greens (随州泡泡青炒肉) is a stir-fry from Suizhou (随州), Hubei, built on paopaoqing (泡泡青), a leafy green that Hubei Daily describes as a vegetable variety peculiar to Suizhou. Its formal name is crinkle-leaved dark bok choy (皱叶黑油白菜), and its local name, 'blister greens', comes from the dense bubbles that puff up the surface of each leaf.

Ingredients

Anju (安居镇) in Sui County (随县) is the main producing area. The head of the town's agricultural technology centre describes paopaoqing as an overwintering open-field crop, sown in stages from mid to late September and harvested from November to February. According to the Suizhou Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, climate and soil have long kept the crop to a dozen or so townships around the city, and the leaves come out dark green, thick, soft and smooth. The greens are registered as an agricultural geographical-indication product and hold a national geographical-indication trademark. Local legend credits the Yan Emperor Shennong (炎帝神农氏) with first planting them at Lishan (厉山), his birthplace.

Flavour and texture

The greens are at their best after frost, when the leaves turn a brighter deep green and taste stronger and fresher. The first bite is soft and thick, then crisp and tender, followed by sweetness. The blistered upper side and the hollows on the underside hold seasoning, and the leaves stay green even with long cooking and grow sweeter the longer they cook.

How it is eaten

In Suizhou the greens are stir-fried on their own, added to hotpot, stewed with tofu, fried in spring rolls and wrapped in dumplings. In a 2019 roundup of New Year's Eve star dishes from Hubei's 17 cities and prefectures, published by Changjiang Cloud (长江云), Suizhou's entry was quick-fried paopaoqing (炝炒泡泡青), and the same roundup says the greens go well with fish and meat. At the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve the whole family takes its first bite from the greens together, for a clean and healthy year ahead.