A specialty of Dingxiang county near Xinzhou in northern Shanxi: chopped pork bound with plenty of potato starch and seasoning, packed into a basin and steamed into a firm, sliceable savory loaf. The starch is the point — it stretches a little meat a long way and sets the mix into a dense, springy block that slices clean when cool. It is eaten warm, sliced and either served plain, re-steamed, or stir-fried with vegetables, and is a staple of Dingxiang banquets and New-Year tables. The taste is meaty and peppery-fragrant, the texture firm and faintly bouncy from the starch.
Dingxiang steamed pork is the best-known dish of Dingxiang, a county in the Xinzhou region of northern Shanxi, where it features at weddings, festivals and the Lunar New Year. Local lore traces it back two millennia and links it to the area's old reputation, but those origin stories are folk tradition rather than documented history; what is certain is that it is a long-established Xinzhou country dish built around the economy of the loaf — a generous measure of potato starch carrying a smaller measure of pork, a thrifty banquet food from a region where potatoes grow well. The craft of Dingxiang steamed pork is recognised on Shanxi's regional intangible-heritage lists, and packaged versions are now sold as a local specialty.
Sliced from a cooled loaf, each piece is dense and holds its shape, the surface flecked with bits of meat suspended in the set starch. The bite is firm and a touch springy-chewy — closer to a savory steamed pudding than to a meatball — and it carries the warm fragrance of white pepper, fennel and a little garlic against the plain richness of pork and starch. On its own it is mild and homely; re-steamed it turns softer and more tender, and stir-fried with garlic chives or bean sprouts it picks up wok aroma and a glossy edge. Best eaten hot off the steamer.
The dish is an exercise in starch binding. Chopped pork (and often a little of its broth or rendered fat) is mixed with a large proportion of potato starch, salt, white pepper, fennel, minced garlic and ginger, then packed firmly into a basin so there are no air pockets. Steaming gelatinises the starch, which swells and sets around the meat into a single solid, sliceable mass — the same principle that makes a starch-bound sausage hold, scaled up to a loaf. The high starch-to-meat ratio is deliberate, both for thrift and for the characteristic firm, faintly bouncy texture; too little starch and it falls apart, too much and it turns gummy. Re-steaming before serving softens the set starch and is the usual way to reheat it.
Variations
Pork is standard, but the same method is used to make 羊肉蒸肉 (mutton) and even all-vegetable or all-potato 'steamed meat' that contains little or no meat at all, the starch loaf being the real subject. Seasoning leans on white pepper and fennel; some cooks add 花椒, soy for color, or fried onion. Once steamed, the loaf is variously served sliced and plain, re-steamed to a softer texture, pan-fried, or stir-fried with vegetables. It keeps and travels well, which is why it became a banquet make-ahead and, more recently, a vacuum-packed regional gift. Neighbouring counties in the Xinzhou area make close cousins under the broad name 忻州蒸肉.
On the Palate
Where Dingxiang Steamed Pork sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 5
How it's made
7 steps · 40 min
- 115 min
Chop pork (a fattier cut works well) coarsely, or part-mince and part-dice for texture.
- 28 min
Mix with a generous measure of potato starch — typically more starch than meat by volume — plus salt, white pepper, ground fennel, minced garlic and ginger.
- 35 min
Loosen with a little stock or water to a thick, sticky paste; pack firmly into a basin with no air pockets.
Watch outPack the sticky paste firmly into the basin with no air pockets — steaming gelatinizes the starch into one solid sliceable mass, and trapped air leaves holes that crumble.
- 490 min
Steam over high heat for about 1.5 hours until set firm and cooked through.
- 540 min
Let cool until the loaf firms up enough to slice cleanly.
Watch outLet the steamed loaf cool until it firms up enough to slice cleanly — cut it piping hot and it tears instead of giving neat slices.
- 65 min
Slice and serve warm — plain, re-steamed, or stir-fried with garlic chives or bean sprouts.
- 710 min
To reheat, re-steam the slices until soft and hot.
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