Description
An excessively magnificent regional hot pot eaten by the entire village during 'Sha Zhu' (Pig Slaughter), the biggest winter event in Northeast China. A rich pork bone broth is loaded with homemade 'Suan Cai' (intensely sour fermented cabbage), pork belly, and 'Xue Chang' (pitch-black sausage stuffed with pig blood). An explosion of tartness and wild flavor.
Restaurants serving Sha Zhu Cai (Northeast Pork and Pickled Cabbage Stew)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Suan Cai(Northeast fermented cabbage)
- Pork belly
- Xue Chang(Pig blood sausage)
- Pork bone broth
- Glass noodles
- Lard
- Star anise
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- (Broth & Meat) Boil pork spines/femurs in a giant pot for hours to extract a rich cloudy broth. Simultaneously, boil a block of pork belly in this broth, then slice it thin.
- (Suan Cai Prep: This is Life) Julienne 'Suan Cai' (cabbage lactic-fermented in salt, prepared massively by every Northeast family in autumn) and squeeze dry. Fry it in pork lard to extract its intense sourness and umami.
- (Building the Pot) Pave a giant iron wok with the fried Suan Cai. Add the sliced pork belly and rehydrated thick glass noodles.
- Flood with pork bone broth. Add star anise, ginger, and scallion, boiling vigorously. The sourness melts from the cabbage, transforming the broth into a premium soup.
- [Inserting Xue Chang (Blood Sausage)]: Slice 'Xue Chang' (pitch-black sausages made by stuffing fresh pig blood and spices into casings and boiling).
- Right before killing the heat, drop the blood sausage into the pot to warm briefly (boiling too long makes it dry and crumbly).
- Dip in garlic soy or chive flower paste to eat.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Intense lactic fermented sourness of Suan Cai and depth of pork fat、豚の脂のコク
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Substitute with Japanese pickled Napa cabbage and pork belly)
Pairing
Baijiu / Raw Garlic(bitten alongside)
Trivia
[Trivia] 'Sha Zhu' means pig slaughter. In the freezing Northeast, this is the crystallization of the farmers' resilient vitality and wisdom: wasting absolutely nothing of the pig—from meat to blood to organs—turning it all into preserves and stews to survive the winter.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Pull the piping hot pork belly and blood sausage from the pot, dunk them heavily into a small dish of 'grated garlic and soy sauce', and devour. The blood sausage has a sticky, liver-like texture. The broth is astonishingly sour, completely negating the heaviness of the pork fat.
Allergen
Pork (Blood included), Soybeans, Wheat (Soy sauce)