Traditional brine: water, soy sauce, rock sugar, cinnamon, star anise (not much), southern ginger, rice wine, garlic and mushrooms. Don't put seasonings such as monosodium glutamate, which will spoil the taste of pot-stewed food. Rock sugar adds flavor and makes braised pork taste better. Southern ginger, also known as galangal or reed ginger, has its own unique aroma besides its unique spicy taste. When pickled ebony in Chaoshan area, the added licorice contains ginger powder, which tastes sweet, slightly spicy and sour, and is very delicious. I believe many Chaoshan friends know this.
In addition, in ancient Egypt, southern ginger was used as a smoking material. In medieval Europe, it was used as medicine and perfume. Until today, Nanjiang is still only used in Chaoshan area and Southeast Asia, and rarely seen in other places.
However, friends who can't buy Nanjiang can switch to ginger, which tastes a little worse, but it doesn't affect the taste. If you have the opportunity to come to Chaoshan, please feel free to eat authentic Chaoshan pot-stewed dishes.
Regarding yellow rice wine, Shaoxing yellow rice wine, also known as flower carving, is named after changing the proportion of ingredients and increasing the input of glutinous rice or glutinous rice during the production process. Cooking wine is to add cooking wine to the pot-stewed taste after the pot-stewed taste is over, cook it for a while, then pick it up and put it on the plate. This cooking wine can enhance the flavor, and at the same time, the pickled taste will be dry.