Safflower Braised Pork Belly

Why people make this dish

Safflower — particularly the Tibetan variety (saffron, Crocus sativus) — has been used as both a spice and a medicinal herb across cultures for centuries. In Chinese traditional food therapy, safflower (both the Tibetan and the more affordable Chinese variety, Carthamus tinctorius, called chuan hong hua) is valued for its ability to activate blood circulation and dissolve very fine stagnation in the vessels.

Nourilo explains a specific traditional rationale for this dish: the brain has a blood-brain barrier that prevents many substances from entering, but cholesterol — found in fatty pork — acts as a carrier molecule that can help convey the active compounds of safflower across that barrier. This is why the dish specifically uses fatty pork belly rather than lean meat. It is traditionally used after head bumps in children or adults, on the theory that even minor head trauma can produce microscopic bleeding or bruising that may not show up on a scan, and that safflower can help clear this before it causes longer-term issues.