Slices of smoked pork, cured chicken and cured fish packed together in a bowl with fermented black beans and chilli, and steamed until their fats and flavours mingle.
What makes it steamed trio of cured meats
Three cured meats — usually pork, chicken and fish — sliced and layered.
Steamed rather than fried, with a little stock or rice wine.
Liuyang fermented black beans and dried chilli for savour and heat.
Where it comes from
Hézhēng means 'steamed together'. It's a winter and new-year dish from the cured meats every Hunan household once kept hanging by the hearth, and it shows them off at their best: the pork's fat softens and seeps into the leaner chicken and fish.
It's one of the dishes most often named as a Hunan classic, and restaurants across the province serve it, often turned out of the bowl on to a plate.
How it varies
Làròu zhēng
Smoked pork alone, steamed with black beans and chilli.