There are two methods to make elbow flower, one involves separating the meat and skin of the elbow, then rolling the meat up, braising it, slicing it, and then dipping it in sauce. Because the cross-section resembles a flower, it is called elbow flower.
However, a drawback of elbow flower made from elbow is that it's too fatty, making it easy to get tired of eating it. So, some chefs in certain regions have improved this dish by using pork skin to wrap tendon meat instead.
Tendon meat consists of lean meat and fascia, offering more texture and is fat-free, providing a more chewy experience and pairing well with alcohol, making it a top-ranked dish for many people.
In the past, elbow flower was often seen at banquets in Northern Zhongyuan.
But nowadays, tendon meat is relatively hard to buy, so this dish has become less common.
Apart from the ingredients, the complexity of the preparation has also caused this dish to lose its original king of pairing position.
