Lychee pork

Lychee pork or lizhi rou (Eastern Min: liĕk-chiĕ-nṳ̆k) is a well known dish in Fujianese cuisine. It consists of small pieces of deep-fried pork and sliced water chestnuts served in a sweet and sour sauce. Its bright red colour is derived from red yeast rice. In unsophisticated establishments, the sauce is commonly made with ketchup, soy sauce and rice vinegar.

History
Lychee pork is commonly associated with the cuisines of Fuzhou and Putian. Its creation can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty and the dish is considered to be a prominent strand of Min cuisine. Despite its name, the dish does not contain the lychee fruit. Its name is instead derived from the appearance of the dish in which the red and curled fried pieces of pork resemble the skin of the lychee fruit.

The origin of the dish is attributed to a legend involving Mei, a royal consort of the Xuanzong Emperor of the Jiang clan. The consort, who came from Putian was said to be frequently homesick, due to the distance of the imperial court from her hometown. Lychees from Putian were said to cure her despondency but were rarely available due to the difficulty of transporting the fruit. It is believed that the chef employed by Mei, Jiang, devised a recipe to cook meat so that it resembled those lychees. Mei was later killed in the Anshi Rebellion, and the chef was believed to have escaped and fled back to Fujian, bringing the dish with him.

Lychee pork in the USA
Outside China, lychee pork forms the rudiments of some famous Chinese restaurant dishes. Today, many similarities between lychee pork and chicken/pork balls can still be found. Additional vegetable ingredients include yams, tomatoes, and green onions.