Hoping to set the record straight, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that Taiwanese braised pork rice, or luroufan, as it is widely known around Taiwan, should not be described as a “Shandong-style” dish.
Hau, responding to an article in Sunday’s Chinese-language United Daily News that raised the issue, said the problem likely came from confusion over the dish’s first character (滷), pronounced “lu.”
Many restaurants around Taiwan incorrectly use a Chinese character that is an alternate name for China’s Shandong Province, based on the State of Lu, which was located in the same area about 2,200 years ago, rather than the correct character, which refers to meat, eggs or bean curd that is braised or stewed, Hau said.
The United Daily News article reported that the Michelin Guide on Taiwan published in April described the dish incorrectly as Lu (Shandong-style) Meat Rice using the Chinese character “魯,” which is the abbreviation for Shandong.
It also translated the guidebook’s description as saying the dish “originated” in Shandong and took it to task for the interpretation, when in fact the Michelin Guide only described it as an “elemental staple” of the northern Chinese province.
Whatever the case, Hau said local restaurants have been using the wrong character and misleading consumers for decades, long before the new guidebook was published. He also said the situation had to be rectified.
NAME CHANGE
Hau said the Taipei City Government, which has organized an annual braised pork rice festival for the past several years, would use the Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) pronunciation of the dish, loo-bah-png, instead of “braised pork rice,” as the English or Romanized translation of the traditional Taiwanese snack for future festivals.
NO RELATION
Meanwhile, Chang Yung-chang (張永昌), chairman of Formosa Chang — a luroufan franchise established nearly 50 years ago — said the dish is a snack eaten by common people and has nothing to do with Shandong Province.
Chang said that it was a product of less affluent times when pork consumption was a luxury and actually reflected the wisdom of a mother, who cut pork into tiny pieces, braised it and in turn used the braised pot to flavor rice so her children could enjoy a simple, hearty meal.
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