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Sentence | Li-chi-hsien
Edit | Chestnut Hat
sequence
For Chinese, bacon is definitely not just a delicious dish on the tip of the tongue, it also has a strong taste of the year.
At the end of each lunar year, almost all rural hometowns will marinate bacon to prepare an indispensable delicacy for the upcoming Spring Festival.
A seemingly simple bacon actually has to go through many complicated procedures such as meat selection, marinating, air drying, and smoking.
In order to be eligible to appear on the New Year's table, adding auspiciousness and joy to the festival.
When people from different regions make bacon, they also inject charming flavors with unique local characteristics.
So in everyone's mind, which region of bacon can not be forgotten?
Jinhua ham
Jinhua ham can be called the leader in mainland cured bacon products, and its reputation has long been well-known at home and abroad.
At the same time, it also has very old qualifications, as early as the Sui and Tang dynasties more than 1,000 years ago.
Jinhua ham has become a precious court dish, and it still has many popular names such as "tribute leg", "tobacco hoof" and "Lan Xun" at that time.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, people have formed a consensus that "ham, out of gold is better".
In fact, there are many regions that produce ham in the country, why is only Jinhua ham able to make a name for itself and win the favor of gourmets?
It turned out that Jinhua ham had already thrown the hams of other regions far away in terms of materials.
In Jinhua's filial piety, Xupu and other areas, rich in a kind of soft taste, thin skin and small bones of the good breed pig, is called Jinhua pig.
This Jinhua pig also has the reputation of "Chinese Panda Pig" among the people, which can be called "full of treasures".
In particular, its leg meat is a delicious treasure with full fat and delicious taste, and it is perfect for marinating ham and bacon.
In addition to the unique advantages in raw materials, the exquisiteness of Jinhua ham's production process is even more amazing.
Ordinary bacon and ham can be cured in just over a month.
The Jinhua ham fermentation process alone takes months or even half a year.
During the strict and lengthy curing process, Jinhua ham can decompose up to a dozen substances that are beneficial to the human body.
It makes it fatty and fragrant, more nutritious, and easier to be absorbed by the human body.
The consumption of Jinhua ham is also rich and diverse, and it can be sliced and eaten directly by steam.
It can also be simmered with a variety of vegetables to add a charming flavor to the soup.
It has excellent quality and a kaleidoscopic variety of cooking methods.
This makes Jinhua ham firmly occupy a place in many traditional Chinese cuisines.
Hunan bacon
Hunan is the holy land of smoked cooking technology, where "everything can be cured".
In addition to the common preserved duck, preserved sausage, preserved chicken, there are even preserved turtles, preserved chicken, such rare things that outsiders have never heard of.
Of course, the most delicious and most widely accepted by diners is the more traditional cured pork.
Although bacon is abundant in all parts of Hunan Province, the two that can truly represent the unique local flavor are Anhua bacon and Xiangxi bacon.
Although these two types of bacon are rare and delicious, their taste styles are also quite different.
Anhua bacon prefers to choose three fat and two lean pork belly in the selection of materials.
During the marinating process, it is necessary to make the inside and outside of the bacon marinated dry and wet, and the color is natural.
When this kind of bacon is delivered to the mouth, it is really full of fungus and has a long aftertaste.
The taste of Xiangxi bacon is more "strong", and it will have a very "enjoyable" smoky taste when you first enter it.
After tasting it carefully, I felt that the taste was mellow, thin but not firewood, which made people have a great appetite and was reluctant to put down the chopsticks.
In addition, it may be because the curing process of Hunan bacon has been inherited and innovated for countless generations.
Therefore, the shelf life of this bacon is beyond imagination, and if it is stored properly, it can be eaten until the next year without spoiling.
Chongqing bacon
For Chongqing people, smoked bacon is also an indispensable "reserved program" for the Chinese New Year.
Chongqing's climate in winter is relatively dry, which just provides unique conditions for the production of bacon.
The bacon smoking skills of Chongqing people are also unique.
Every lunar month, the village of Chongqing will be busy, and they carefully select the freshest and fattest pork leg meat in the region.
These plump, ruddy porks are an excellent ingredient for bacon.
After selecting the pork, Chongqing people use a unique recipe in which salt, spices and pork are repeatedly soaked and marinated.
This process requires extreme patience and experience.
Because only if it is marinated properly, the pork can be completely mixed with the seasoning and ready for subsequent smoking.
When the pork is marinated, Chongqing people will arrange these meat skewers neatly and hang them directly under the eaves and behind the door of their homes.
Under the action of the sun and the breeze, these skewers gradually lose their moisture and become dry and firm and firm.
The residents of Chongqing waited quietly until the bacon was completely dry.
In the process of waiting, Chongqing people will also pay attention to the weather changes and adjust the position of the bacon in a timely manner.
In order to achieve the best drying effect for each piece of bacon.
After such a complicated and careful process, the cured bacon finally is naturally not ordinary.
Every bite is full of flavor, making people feel the rich "Sichuan fragrance".
Cantonese bacon
Cantonese bacon is generally marinated earlier than in other regions.
As the so-called "autumn wind rises, eat cured meat", as soon as it enters the late autumn season, the bacon curing army will start to act.
Cantonese people who pay attention to food culture are also very meticulous in the classification of bacon, which is divided into two types: red and white.
The red wax is bright in color, with a mouth-filling sauce aroma, and the meat is elastic, and it tastes very crisp and tender.
Red bacon is relatively sweet in taste, which is typical of Cantonese bacon, and people who are not used to eating it may feel a little greasy.
The flavor of white bacon is closer to the traditional salty taste of bacon.
The taste is suitable for all ages, and it can also be used for a wider range of cooking methods.
And there is another difference between Cantonese bacon, that is, when the pork is initially marinated.
In other regions, only condiments such as salt and peppercorn powder are used, but Cantonese people will marinate them with high liquor.
This will make the bacon marinated after it is completed, with a refreshing aroma of wine, and the more you eat it, the more you can't stop.
Shaanxi bacon
Most of the above kinds of excellent bacon are produced in the southern part of the mainland.
Indeed, the climate and environment in the south are temperate, which provides a natural guarantee for curing bacon.
But delicious bacon is not unique to the south, and the Shaanxi bacon to be introduced next is the façade of northern bacon.
In the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province, farmers raise a large number of black pigs.
These black pigs are pure in quality, fatty in meat, and are the best in cured bacon.
In addition, the Qinling Mountains are also a treasure trove of natural pine and cypress branches.
These pine and cypress branches provide excellent fuel for smoking bacon, which gives Shaanxi bacon a distinctive pine fruit aroma after curing.
With the best raw materials, natural firewood and exquisite craftsmanship.
Shaanxi bacon naturally presents a full color, attractive aroma and oily taste.
When you taste it, you can feel the fragrance of bacon, which makes people have an endless aftertaste.
epilogue
With the increase in the variety of food, the status of bacon on the table is no longer what it used to be.
But the traditional Chinese food culture contained in it has always been deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Even today, in every household in the countryside, you can still see the strings of golden bacon shining seductively in the sun.
It seems to tell stories and warm memories of home.