Li Hongzhang Hotchpotch

Li Hongzhang hotchpotch is a classic of Anhui (Luzhou) cuisine, braising more than a dozen ingredients—rehydrated sea cucumber, fish maw, squid, cooked ham, bamboo shoots, bean-curd skin, pigeon egg, chicken and pork tripe—in sesame oil and serving it in an earthenware basin, prized for its careful preparation and harmonious abundance, dark in colour and deep in flavour.

The dish is linked to the Hefei-born late-Qing statesman Li Hongzhang; after his 1896 visit to the United States, "Li Hongzhang Chop Suey" spread across North America and became an internationally influential Chinese dish, making this stew one of the calling cards by which Anhui cuisine reached the world.

Usually brought out whole as the crowning dish of an Anhui banquet, diners first eat the varied ingredients then mix the rich sauce into rice, a classic showpiece for honoured guests in Hefei.

The lavish gathering of a dozen mountain and sea delicacies in one basin, the deep rich sauce, and the international legend born of Li Hongzhang's visit to America are the marks of this dish.