🍽️ Eight-Cut Pork Soup

Eight pork parts in clear soup, Hakka style.

Eight-Cut Pork Soup is the signature clear soup of the Hakka region around Heyuan, eastern Guangdong. Eight cuts refers to fresh pork sliced from eight different parts of the pig, cut to order and dropped straight into the pot. The slices need no long braising; a brief plunge in rolling water cooks them just enough to lock in the juices. The broth stays crystal clear, the meat tender and juicy, seasoned only with white pepper and salt so that you taste the natural sweetness of good pork. Hospitable Hakka households often serve a steaming bowl of eight-cut soup to early-morning guests, best with plain rice. Heyuan's mountain villages raise good pigs and slaughter them fresh, and the dish embodies the Hakka cooking ideals of clearness, freshness and respect for the ingredient itself. It is a signature of local restaurants and morning-market soup stalls.