The Chinese laurel is a large tree which produces bright yellow, fragrant flowers. The pork in this recipe is cooked with eggs, which give a yellow colour to the dish - hence the name.
For this recipe, use small, thin-skinned green peppers if possible.
The green pepper or pimento, a native of America, is now cultivated in all parts of the world. Its crunchy texture makes it very popular in China.
This recipe originated in Shandong, a province in the north with which Peking cuisine is closely associated, and which is famous for its leek and onion-flavoured dishes.
Sichuan (Szechuan) preserved vegetable is made of the root of a vegetable whose texture resembles a radish, pickled with chilli and salt. It is very hot and salty.
My earliest recollection of the Chinese countryside is of a trip to a Buddhist temple high up in the wooded hills a few miles from Nanchang, my grandparents' home town, south of the Yangtze River.
Most people who are put off by the strong smell of boiled cabbage will be pleasantly surprised to find that if prepared and cooked in the Chinese way,
One of the simple dishes Emperor Ch'ien Lung discovered among the common people was bean curd (tofu). Made from puréed and pressed soya beans, it is exceptionally high in protein and is known in China as 'poor man's meat'.