Sourcing Pork For Chinese Dishes [Split from S.F. boad]

[Gary Soup]

Yes, Chinese markets. My wife would divorce me and go back to Shanghai if she couldn't get the materiel for her hongshao drill here.

For a slow-braised pork shoulder with the skin on, I don't think there is such a thing as too lean.

[PBSF]

A good size pig should be at least 175lb dressed. Most pigs delivered to Chinatown barely weight 100lb. It has a mild sweet flavor and hardly any real good pork taste. Try a good pork shoulder from Niman Ranch and there is no comparison.

[Gary Soup]

Different strokes, I suppose. I haven't heard anyone complain about lack of flavor of a well-prepared red-cooked pork joint at a Shanghainese Restaurant. Anyway, don't you feel that it's a crap shoot buying Niman Ranch pork, now that are over 300 "Niman Ranches" out there? Ever wonder if all the good stuff is going to Chipotle?

[PBSF]

Delicious Shanghai red-cooked pork...all that dark soy, ginger, brown sugar, star anise.

[Gary Soup]

And I suppose you are going to put yours on a stick, hold it over a fire for a while and then gnaw at it like in a Henry VIII movie or something?

[Robert Lauriston]

Niman's suppliers have strict protocols to follow, they're audited at least once a year, and all of the pork is shipped fresh to Naman's Oakland processing plant.

[Gary Soup]

From as far away as North Carolina?