🍽️ Hu Shi One-Pot

Huizhou layered stew pot, meat and veg stacked.

Hu Shi One-Pot is a celebrated layered stew from Jixi, in Anhui's Huizhou region, named after the modern scholar Hu Shi, at whose family table it was said to be served. A large earthen pot is built up in layers: hearty vegetables such as dried bamboo shoots, radish and cabbage line the bottom, then come layers of pork belly, fried tofu, egg dumplings and meatballs, all covered in stock and slow-simmered. Vegetables soak up the meaty jus and turn sweet; the meats braise to melting tenderness; flavors cross-pollinate through the pot and deepen with time. It is a winter and festival centerpiece in Huizhou homes, brought bubbling to the table for everyone to share—a generous, warming expression of Huizhou cooking's bold colors, rich oil and long braising.