Stir-Fried Wild Wormwood with Cured Pork 黎蒿炒腊肉
Stir-Fried Wild Wormwood with Cured Pork is featured among the local specialties of Jiangxi.
Stir-Fried Wild Wormwood with Cured Pork (黎蒿炒腊肉) is a spring home dish from the shores of Poyang Lake (鄱阳湖) in Jiangxi, made by cooking the young stems of wild lihao (藜蒿), a wetland wormwood, with cured pork.
Ingredients
Lihao is called the "grass" of Poyang Lake and the "treasure" of the dinner table. In Duchang county (都昌县), which borders the lake and has wide wetlands, a green growth of lihao comes up once the lake-shore vegetation is exposed and the sun shines on it. In March, the best time for picking, the wild plant grows thick on the lake flats. A Jiujiang (九江) city government report from March 2022 describes local people near Yinshan (印山) on the lake spreading out across the meadows with bags, stooping or squatting to pick it by hand.
The part eaten is the tender stem, which is fresh and crisp with a light, clean fragrance. Shennong's Herbal Classic (神农本草经) is said to rank it among the best wild vegetables.
How it is eaten
Besides being stir-fried with cured pork, the stems can be eaten as a staple or dressed cold. The plant has long carried the praise "fragrant, crisp and tender on the plate, the finest flavour among spring vegetables" (登盘香脆嫩，风味冠春蔬). In the picking season, the Jiujiang city government reports, this dish is a fixture of many home tables in the county and a favourite of Duchang people.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-26. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.