Western Hunan Tujia Cured Pork

Western Hunan Tujia Cured Pork

　　Tujia cured pork is a specialty of Zhangjiajie in Western Hunan, Hunan Province. The people of Western Hunan have a tradition of curing pork over the course of a year. Every year as the Lunar New Year approaches, after butchering the New Year’s pig, they use the prime cuts, pig head, and pig trotters to make cured pork. First, the fresh meat is cut into long strips weighing five to six pounds each, then salt and various spices are rubbed into it before placing it in a large jar (the meat must never be washed with water) to cure for four to six days. To ensure the flavor penetrates evenly, the meat is turned over every one or two days. Once the salt and spices have soaked into the meat, it is then hung high from the beams of the hearth or stove, where it is slowly smoked and dried by the fire. Well-cured pork can typically be preserved for more than six months. If smoked with tangerine peels, the cured pork will have a reddish hue with an oily sheen, bright in color and free of soot, making it even more visually appealing.

　　Smoking cured pork is a rugged task that involves quite a bit of “know-how.” Even with the same smoking room, same techniques, and same fuel, the resulting cured pork can vary greatly. Smoking the pork requires proper methods—using fierce flames will ruin the flavor. The smoking time must be neither too short nor too long, as it directly affects the quality of the cured taste. Too short a time and you won’t get the cured flavor; too long and it becomes hard to stomach. Before cooking, the cured pork must be washed, boiled or steamed until tender, then sliced. It can be eaten directly with sour soup and chili, or stir-fried with seasonings for a unique aroma and attractive presentation. In restaurants in Fenghuang, cured pork is commonly stir-fried with fiddlehead ferns.