Pan Sun Shi: A Line of Du Fu's Poetry, a Century of Braise

World Travel 编辑部 · 2026-09-10 · 6 min read

Pan Sun Shi: A Line of Du Fu's Poetry, a Century of Braise

Chengdu's Pan Sun Shi is a celebrated braised and cured meats shop, founded in 1925. Its name itself comes out of a poem.

The name, from Du Fu's "For a Guest"

The three characters Pan Sun Shi are taken from two lines of Du Fu's poem "For a Guest":

The market is far, so the plate holds no second flavour; the house is poor, so the cup holds only last year's cloudy wine.

"For a Guest" is one of the poems Du Fu wrote during his years at the Chengdu cottage — three years and nine months, more than 240 poems. The lines are an apology for plain hospitality: the market too far to buy anything but one dish, the wine unfiltered and old. To hang such self-deprecation over a braised-meat shop is, on reflection, very Chengdu: the generosity is in serving whatever there is, and serving it well.

Braising: Sichuan's cold-kitchen line

Pan Sun Shi deals in luwei, braised foods. In the Sichuan system, hot and cold dishes use different methods. The hot side runs to stir-frying, velveting, flash-frying, dry-frying, quick-frying, blanching, deep-frying, boiling, scalding, "grain" cooking, pan-frying, wrapping, stuffing, rolling, steaming, braising, simmering, stewing, spreading, slow-braising, saucing, poaching, roasting, baking, sticking, quick-boiling, wine-lees, drunken and rushing methods. The cold side is "toss, braise, smoke, cure, dry-cure, set and sauce".

Braising is the second of these. It looks simple and is not: it lives or dies on the age and recipe of the master pot. That is why braised deli can stand as a business of its own.

Nearly a century of braised ribs

Founded in 1925, Pan Sun Shi is approaching its hundredth year. A China Time-Honoured Brand, its strength is braised deli:

• Braised pork ribs — the signature of signatures
• Braised pig's tail and braised chicken feet — the gnawing end of the counter
• Fresh-pork steamed buns — the usual starch alongside
• Pork braised with dried long beans — a home-style braise

Braised food has one great virtue: flexibility. Take it away, eat it with wine, eat it as a snack, or lay it over a bowl of noodles.

Practical

• Style: a cured and braised deli, a century old; buy and go
• Buy: braised ribs, pig's tail, chicken feet
• Eating: good with wine or over rice; add steamed buns and the pork braise for a meal in
• How to buy: sold by weight — start with small amounts of several things
• Good for: a late supper or food for the road, cheaper than sitting down

Related

• Chen Mapo Tofu: The Pot by Wanfu Bridge Since 1862
• Du Fu's Thatched Cottage: One Hut and Two Hundred and Forty Poems

Photos

Sources

• Baidu Baike: Pan Sun Shi
• Wikipedia: Du Fu Thatched Cottage; Sichuan cuisine