When Su Dongpo was governor of Hangzhou, he governed the West Lake and did a good deed for the common people.

After the treatment of the West Lake, the surrounding fields are not afraid of waterlogging or drought. This year, the weather has been smooth again, and the crops in the four townships of Hangzhou have achieved a bumper harvest. The common people thank Su Dongpo for the benefits of the treatment of the West Lake. During the Chinese New Year, everyone will carry pigs and wine to pay New Year greetings to him.

Su Dongpo took a lot of pork and asked someone to cut it into squares and burn it red. Then, according to the roster of migrant workers who governed the West Lake, each family would receive a piece of meat and give it to them for the Chinese New Year.

In peaceful years, every household lived happily. At this time, everyone was even happier to see Su Dongpo send someone to deliver meat: the old laughed, the little jumped, everyone praised Su Dongpo as a wise parent, and called the pork he sent "Dongpo Meat."

At that time, there was a big restaurant in Hangzhou. When the owner of the restaurant saw that people were praising "Dongpo Pork", he discussed with the chef and cut the pork into squares and cooked it red and crispy; he hung a brand, which was also named "Dongpo Pork".

As soon as this new dish came out, the restaurant's business was very prosperous. There were constant customers from morning to night, and killing ten pigs a day was not enough to sell. Other restaurant owners were jealous and learned to make it. For a time, no matter the size of the restaurant, every restaurant had "Dongpo Pork".

Su Dongpo was upright and unafraid of power. The traitors in the imperial court hated him very much. At this time, seeing that he was loved by ordinary people made me even more uncomfortable. One of them, a royal historian, disguised himself and came to Hangzhou to find trouble, intending to frame Su Dongpo.

On his first day in Hangzhou, the imperial historian had lunch in a restaurant. The waiter handed him the menu and asked him to order. When he received the menu, he saw that it was "Dongpo Pork"! He frowned, thought for a while, and patted the table with joy and shouted, "I want this dish!"

He had eaten "Dongpo Pork" and thought it tasted really good. As soon as he asked the waiter, he knew that "Dongpo Pork" was the first famous dish recognized by his peers, so he collected the menus of all the restaurants in Hangzhou and went back to Beijing excitedly.

The emperor returned to the capital and immediately went to see the emperor. He said, "Your Majesty, Su Dongpo was a governor in Hangzhou, and he was greedy and perverted the law. He did all the evil things! People can't wait to eat their meat."

The emperor said, "How did you know? Is there any evidence?"

The Emperor was originally a fool. When he saw the menu, he immediately handed over the imperial decree to dismiss Su Dongpo and send him to Hainan to join the army.

After Su Dongpo was transferred to the army, the people of Hangzhou could not forget his benefits and still praised him as in the past. In this way, "Dongpo meat" has been passed down from generation to generation, and to this day, it is still a famous dish in Hangzhou.