Cross-scored pieces of pork, fried until they curl up like lychees, in a glossy red sweet-and-sour sauce with water chestnuts.
What makes it lychee pork
Lean pork scored in a deep cross-hatch, cut into pieces and fried.
Water chestnuts alongside, for the white flesh of the fruit.
A sweet-sour sauce, coloured red, that just coats the pieces.
Where it comes from
There's no lychee in it: the name is for how the scored pork curls when it hits hot oil, into rough little red balls like the fruit. It's one of Fuzhou's best-known dishes, and a good example of its cooking — sweet and sour, but gently.
The red was traditionally from red wine lees; many cooks now use tomato ketchup instead.