A Zhengzhou old-house specialty: strips of layered flatbread braised together with 坛子肉, pork belly long-stewed in a sealed crock, so the bread drinks up the rich meat sauce. A soft-dough 千层饼 (thousand-layer flatbread) is griddled, cooled, and cut into short 'curtain-stick' strips; these are then braised in the jar-stewed pork and its liquor with greens until the bread is soft and saturated but not falling apart. It is the signature of the Ge family house, one of Zhengzhou's 'Three Old Records' (老三记), and is eaten as a hearty single-bowl meal, the tender pork and savoury bread taken together.
The dish was created by Ge Minghui (葛明惠, born 1882), a Manchu of the Bordered Yellow Banner who entered Beijing's Ke Prince's Mansion (珂王府) at about ten and learned cookery in its kitchen. In the early Republic he moved to Henan to make a living, and in 1926 opened the 坛子肉焖饼馆 (Jar-Stewed Pork Braised Flatbread House) near the Zhengzhou railway station. The house came to be counted as one of Zhengzhou's 'Three Old Records' (老三记) alongside 合记烩面 and 老蔡记蒸饺. 葛记焖饼 has been listed as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage of Henan, and the craft has passed down through four generations of the Ge family.
Each strip of bread is soft and pliant, swollen with sauce so it gives way like a noodle yet still holds its layers, never gluey or collapsed into mush. The flavour is deeply savoury and faintly tinged with fermented bean curd from the pork crock; the 坛子肉 itself is stewed to melting, the skin and fat gone soft and gelatinous, the lean still in one bite. Greens cut the richness with a fresh note. Done well the bread is saturated but distinct, glistening with sauce. Done badly it is either dry where the sauce never soaked through, or waterlogged and torn from too long in the pot.
Two techniques carry the dish. The pork is cooked as 坛子肉: skin-on belly is cut into roughly 2 cm cubes, blanched and skimmed clean, then packed into a glazed crock with a full set of the eight spices (八大料) and fermented bean curd (香腐乳), covered with the meat broth, sealed, brought up over high heat and then held at a long, low simmer. The slow heat steadily breaks the collagen in skin and connective tissue down to gelatin, so the fat turns soft and the lean stays moist, while the sealed jar keeps the aromatics from escaping. The flatbread is a 千层饼 made from a soft, relatively high-hydration dough griddled so steam puffs it into distinct layers; cut into strips and braised, those layers act like a sponge, soaking up the gelatin-rich sauce. The braise must be timed so the starch absorbs the liquor and softens without dissolving — too long and the bread breaks down.
Variations
Within the Ge house the constant is the pairing of 坛子肉 and layered flatbread; the greens vary with the season (cabbage, choy sum, or similar), and a richer version is ladled with extra 坛子肉 and its fat for those who want it heavier. Braised flatbread (焖饼) is a wider northern Henan and Beijing-Hebei dish in its own right, often made with shredded pork, cabbage, and stock rather than jar-stewed pork — the Ge version is distinguished precisely by the 坛子肉. The same kitchen's reputation rests on serving the bread strips well saturated; thinner everyday 焖饼 elsewhere uses a plainer griddled cake and a lighter sauce.
On the Palate
Where Ge's Braised Flatbread sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
6 steps · 40 min
- 110 min
Make the 坛子肉: cut skin-on pork belly into roughly 2 cm cubes, blanch in boiling water and skim off the scum, then lift out the meat.
- 25 min
Pack the pork into a glazed crock with the eight spices (star anise, cassia, and the rest) and a piece of fermented bean curd; pour in the meat broth to cover and seal the mouth.
- 3150 min
Bring the crock up over high heat, then drop to a low simmer and stew for two to three hours until the pork is meltingly tender and the skin gelatinous.
Watch outBring the sealed crock up hard, then hold it at a low, quiet simmer for hours — that slow heat melts the belly's collagen to gelatin so the skin turns silky and the lean stays moist.
- 430 min
Make the flatbread: roll out a soft dough, oil and layer it, and griddle into a 千层饼 with distinct layers; cool, then cut into short curtain-stick strips.
- 54 min
In a wok, briefly fry the greens, add a portion of the 坛子肉 with its liquor and a little stock, and bring to a simmer.
- 68 min
Lay the bread strips on top, cover, and braise until the bread has drunk up the sauce and turned soft but still holds together; toss gently and serve hot with pieces of the pork on top.
Watch outBraise the bread strips covered until they've drunk up the sauce and gone soft but still hold together — push it too far and they fall apart.
