Wind Sausage

Wind Sausage

　　Wind Sausage: Elsewhere, it’s called “preserved sausage,” so why is it called “wind sausage” in Dongbei? It turns out that Dongbei wind sausage relies on mountain winds to dry. A stream called Xixi, emerging from a canyon to the northwest, flows gently to the edge of Dongbei Town, bringing with it the refreshing mountain breeze. In the early hours before dawn, families who make wind sausage take out their bunches of sausages from the covered shelters and hang them outdoors to “catch the cold wind”; at noon when the sun is strong, they take the bunches back under the shelters.

　　The ratio of fat to lean meat in Dongbei wind sausage is carefully balanced. Those made with 30% fat and 70% lean meat are called “three-seven sausages”; those with 20% fat and 80% lean meat are called “two-eight sausages.”