A soupy hot course of Luoyang's 水席 (Water Banquet), in which thin slices of lean pork are velveted so they stay tender in a clear sour-and-hot soup. Pork loin is sliced, coated in egg white and starch, and slipped through warm oil just to seal it, then dropped into a broth with wood-ear, day-lily buds (黄花菜) and other shredded vegetables, lightly thickened, and seasoned sour-and-hot with rice vinegar and white pepper. It is one of the standard hot dishes of the banquet, where every hot course comes with soup; the meat slides in tender and the soup is bright, sour and appetizing.
连汤肉片 belongs to the 洛阳水席 (Luoyang Water Banquet), the all-soup banquet of the old Tang capital for which Luoyang is known; by tradition the banquet is said to reach back to the Tang and to have moved from court to common tables over the centuries, though that antiquity is carried as legend rather than firm record, and the exact origin of this individual dish is not documented. The banquet takes its name two ways: every hot course comes with soup, and the courses are cleared and replaced one after another 'like flowing water.' Within that sequence 连汤肉片 is one of the standard hot dishes — a sour-and-hot, soup-based course built on velveted pork — sitting among the banquet's run of broth dishes after the famous opening 牡丹燕菜.
The pork comes up in soft, pale slices that have no fried edge at all — they are slippery-smooth and just-set, tender enough to give way at a bite, never tough or stringy. Around them the soup is clear and lightly bodied, carrying the snap of wood-ear, the slight chew of soaked day-lily buds, and a clean sour-and-hot lift: vinegar forward, white pepper warm behind it, the two balanced so neither overwhelms. It is a soup you drink as much as eat. Done well the slices are uniformly velvety and the soup bright and appetizing; done badly the pork is overcooked into hard chips or the starch coat has sloughed off and clouded the broth, or the seasoning is flat — too timid on the vinegar and pepper that are the whole point.
The dish turns on velveting (上浆滑油). Lean pork loin is low in fat and toughens fast in heat; coating the slices in egg white and starch wraps each in a thin film that sets in the oil and seals the surface, so when the meat is slipped through warm — not hot — oil for only seconds, the proteins inside just set while the juices stay locked in and the slice turns slippery and tender rather than dry. The oil must be gentle (around 三四成热): too hot and the coat fries crisp and the meat hardens. The soaked wood-ear and day-lily buds add texture and absorb the broth. A thin starch slurry thickens the soup just enough to give it body and to suspend the slices and shreds evenly. The sour-and-hot seasoning is balanced last and off the boil: rice vinegar is added late so its aroma is not driven off by long heat, and white pepper supplies the heat — the classic 酸辣 pairing whose ratio is the cook's signature.
Variations
连汤肉片 sits among the hot courses of the 洛阳水席 alongside the banquet's other soup dishes, and the same velveted-pork-in-soup idea appears in home and restaurant versions that vary the vegetables — wood-ear and day-lily buds are standard, with shredded bamboo shoot, cucumber, green peas, or even tomato added in some renderings. The seasoning ranges from a sharply sour-and-peppery balance to a gentler savory one. The velveting technique is shared with many lean-meat dishes (滑肉/滑里脊), and a drier Henan relative, 滑肉, serves the same coated, slip-cooked pork in a thicker sauce rather than a clear soup. Cooks differ on whether to bind the coat with egg white plus starch or starch alone.
On the Palate
Where Sour-and-Hot Velveted Pork Soup sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 30 min active + 15 min waiting
- 115 min
Soak dried wood-ear and day-lily buds (黄花菜) in warm water until soft, then trim and tear or cut them into bite pieces.
- 26 min
Slice lean pork loin thin and even, then coat the slices with egg white, starch and a pinch of salt until each is filmed and slippery; let them stand a few minutes.
Watch outCoat the pork slices in egg white and starch until each is filmed and slippery — that thin film sets in the oil and locks the juices so the lean meat stays tender.
- 34 min
Heat oil to only about 30-40% hot; slip the pork slices in, separating them gently, and pass them through just until they turn pale and set, then lift out and drain — do not let the oil get hot enough to crisp them.
Watch outKeep the oil at only thirty to forty percent heat and pass the pork through just until it pales — get the oil hot and the coat fries crisp and the meat hardens.
- 44 min
In a pot, briefly fry ginger and scallion in a little oil, add the wood-ear, day-lily buds and other shredded vegetables, and pour in stock; bring to a simmer.
- 52 min
Season the broth with salt and white pepper, then return the velveted pork slices and warm through gently without hard boiling.
- 61 min
Stir in a thin starch-water slurry to lightly thicken the soup so it has body and holds the slices in suspension.
- 71 min
Take it off the boil and stir in rice vinegar to taste for the sour-and-hot finish; ladle into a bowl and scatter with coriander.
Watch outStir in the vinegar off the boil, right at the end — add it early and the fresh sour edge cooks away.
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