Judges taste dishes at the cooking competition. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

A cooking competition themed on Hai'an food was recently held in Hai'an, a city in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province.

Competitors, including both professional and amateur cooks, were required to cook two Hai'an dishes – braised pork in brown sauce and meatballs.

After several rounds of competition, chefs from the Hai'an Wangfu Hotel and Jinhai Hotel won first place in cooking braised pork in brown sauce and meatballs, respectively.

To produce a traditional taste, the sponsor borrowed mud-made stoves from a restaurant to enable competitors to prepare the two local dishes in a traditional way.

"Braised pork in brown sauce and meatballs are the most famous Hai'an dishes," said Shao Xiangcai, chairman of the Hai'an Catering Industry Association.

Shao shared some tips on how to make them.

Marbled meat with skin is the key to cooking braised pork in brown sauce. The diced meat should be stir-fried first before adding soybean sauce, chopped green onion and ginger, sugar, and water and stewing them together until the meat can be pierced through easily with a chopstick.

In addition to diced meat, the meatballs should be prepared with diced water chestnuts, eddoes, or sweet potatoes to create a richer taste. These ingredients should be whisked together for a while to make the meatball a bit chewier.