Dongpo Pork

[lostnfound_wenwen]

This is a real good "melt in mouth" slow braised pork belly. It is named after a Song Dynasty poet, 苏东坡 《豬肉頌》 - "黃州好豬肉，價賤如泥土。貴人不肯吃，貧人不解煮。慢著火，少著水，火候足時他自美。" "Pork in Huangzhou is plentythere it costs utterly lowlyThe rich detest it; the poor fluff it; slow the fire, hold the water, it comes alive when the time is right". The keyword for this is the timing. With the gentlest fire and cook it as slow as possible so to get the right texture.

I would love to hear any feedback on this shot. What more I can do to improve it? Thanks in advance.

blog add: www.wenwenzz.blogspot.com

 

[lastboltnut]

Hi L&FWenWen,

I think this time the food pic is much better. The culinary skill has also improved....I would definitely want to have a bite of the Dong Po Rou. But, I like the meat to be thinner if possible....have you tried the Dong Po Rou from Si Hu at farrer road? I like that, but its subjective lah.

About the pic, here are my personal liking:

1. The plate is overexposed....burnt highlight
2. A bit of the meat is cropped on the left....to me, its either crop a lot to zoom in, or dun crop.
3. I love to see more meat in focus, like deeper DOF, about half the meat will be good.
4. The front face (the thickness side) is a bit dark, have some fill in flash will be good. Can PP for this pic.
5. The herb is also very dark without much detail.
6. I think I would shoot it in landscape mode...

Above are just my personal opinions as an individual, hope it helps to feedback to your shooting style. Happy shooting!

 

[Deadpoet]

Well, I hope it tasted better than it looked. Looking at the picture, I don't want to eat it.

Bear in mind, I love the dish, even though my doctor will faint, but it's heavenly.

What is wrong with the picture.

It's not apetiting!!!

Why? Food photography is not cooking for eating, food needs to be prepared specifically to look good, taste be damned. It's visual.

Granted we do not have the luxury of a food stylist preparing the food, here is some problems that you could have fixed, and still eat the meat later.

Pick a better piece of meat. Good dongpo pork should have 5 layers, from top, skin, fat, a thin layer of meat, then another layer of fat and then the fifth layer should a a thicker layer of meat.

You could have trimmed the end of the piece of meat to show a cross section of the meat (if you have the classical 5 layers). Even now, the dark end cut is unsightly.

There is this yelow hue over the fat on top of the meat.

You need some sauce to add some color. Right now, I don't want to eat it.

You need to fix the background also. The lettuce does not compliment the meat. The bamboo mat is distracting, the lettuce is distracting, the plate is too small, the fat looks coagulating and it's disgusting.

How to do it better, well, fix the above and it should be mouthwatering.

 

[lastboltnut]

Its call "Wu Hua Rou". 5 layers is the minimum, but more layer may be possible for the better grade "Wu Hua Rou".

It became a cooking class liao:bsmilie: Kidding.

Pick a better piece of meat. Good dongpo pork should have 5 layers, from top, skin, fat, a thin layer of meat, then another layer of fat and then the fifth layer should a a thicker layer of meat.

You could have trimmed the end of the piece of meat to show a cross section of the meat (if you have the classical 5 layers). Even now, the dark end cut is unsightly.

 

[Ah Kiat]

Wa lau eh I want to eat that now! No chance in Sydney lah...

A few suggestions if I may:

- increase DOF
- use natural light (mmm imagine the light reflecting off the meat! Yumz!)
- don't get too close lah. Food dishes look good if presented well - the photo needs to capture that essence.

Otherwise, good effort lah! You make me very hungry now....

EDIT: just saw your blog! OMG my tummy going nuts liao...

 

[lostnfound_wenwen]

Hi all, thanks for all the precious comment. Thank you

 

[grantyale]

Er....shouldn't it be a square block of pork with the skin side facing up? The sample looks a bit burnt on the side too.

 

[lastboltnut]

No, square block with skin facing up is "Lor Bak", taiwanese style. Different from the authentic "Tong Po Rou" leh.

Er....shouldn't it be a square block of pork with the skin side facing up? The sample looks a bit burnt on the side too.