Ruichang Yam and Pork Rib Stew 瑞昌山药炖排骨

How it is made

The yam and the ribs go into an earthenware pot (瓦罐) together and stew over a low flame until the broth turns thick and white, as China News Service describes it.

Flavour and texture

The yam soaks up the meat juices and melts in the mouth, the ribs turn soft enough to fall off the bone, and the broth is mellow and full-bodied. A 2012 Yangtse Evening Post (扬子晚报) article carried by CNTV found the rib soup made with Ruichang yam light, fresh and not greasy.

Ingredients

Ruichang yam is a national geographical-indication agricultural product, certified in 2010, with close to 500 years of cultivation. Its flesh is white and fine-grained, with a floury, waxy texture and a clean fragrance, and it goes by the nickname 'ginseng of Jiangnan' (江南人参). The same article noted that Ruichang yams grow neither as thick nor as long as yams elsewhere, and that the best variety, Yitiaolong (一条龙, 'one dragon'), is floury and crisp and the best suited to stewing rib soup.

The core growing area is Gaofeng Town (高丰镇). China Rural Network watched farmers in its Yanping Village (严坪村) dig more than a metre into the ground to bring up a single yam, and reports that the yam is grown in rotation: after one crop, a field must wait five to eight years before yams are planted again.