Dongpo Cured Meats and Beef Jerky

Dongpo Cured Meats and Beef Jerky

　　Dongpo’s cured meats are famous across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asian countries, often a source of local pride. The people of Dongpo are ingenious, producing not only a wide variety of cured meats but also using unique methods.

　　Cured Eggs: Can eggs be cured? Yes, cured eggs are one of Dongpo’s well-known cured meat products. As early as the 1930s, the “Suichang Brand” in Dongpo Town exported cured eggs, cured dog meat, and wind sausages to Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Macau. The main ingredients of cured eggs are pork fatback (pork netting) and eggs, with the pork fatback used as the outer layer and the eggs as the filling.

　　The production process of cured eggs is extremely elaborate. First, the pork fatback is soaked in saltwater to enhance flavor and bleach it—this takes just one day, after which it is set aside. Then, eggs are selected—either chicken or duck—and the whites are removed, leaving only the yolks, which are seasoned with salt, sugar, and wine. When making the cured eggs, the pork fatback is cut into appropriately sized pieces and placed on small ceramic plates, then topped with egg yolks, slices of wind sausage, and coriander (for “Silver Jade Eggs,” lean meat is also added around the edges). These are wrapped into a flat, round shape. They are then sun-dried until the surface is slightly dry, flipped over with another plate, and dried on the other side. Once both sides are about 30–40% dry, they are moved to a bamboo tray for further drying. At 80% dryness, they are hung up with small strings to finish drying. Cured eggs can be steamed before eating. As for the taste? Fragrant and refreshing.

　　Cured Dog: Among Dongpo’s cured meats, the cured dog from Guanwu’s “Suichang Brand” is highly regarded. Guan Zuoxian, an elderly man over 80 years old, says that in 1912, when meat supplies were scarce and traditional cured meat ingredients were lacking, his grandfather experimented with using dog meat as a cured meat ingredient. He first made cured dog strips, then whole cured dogs, thus pioneering the tradition of “Dongpo Cured Dog.”

　　To make cured dog, a plump suckling dog weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 kilograms is selected. After slaughtering and cleaning, the bones are removed, and the meat is salted with fried, crushed salt. Once cured, it is rinsed with warm water, dried, then coated with ginger wine, sugar, and sand ginger powder. It is then shaped and air-dried.

　　Dongpo cured dog is tender, refreshing, fragrant, and neither fishy nor greasy—it can be steamed or stir-fried.

　　Wind Sausage: Why is it called “wind sausage” in Dongpo, while elsewhere it’s known as “cured sausage”? Because Dongpo wind sausage relies on mountain winds for drying. A stream called Xixi, emerging from a canyon to the northwest, flows gently to the edge of Dongpo Town, bringing with it a cool mountain breeze. Before dawn, families who make wind sausages take their batches out of the shelter and hang them in the open air to “catch the cold wind.” At noon, when the sun is strong, they move the sausages back under the shelter.

　　The fat-to-lean ratio of Dongpo wind sausage is carefully balanced. Those with 30% fat and 70% lean meat are called “3–7 sausages”; those with 20% fat and 80% lean meat are called “2–8 sausages.”

　　The savvy businesspeople of Dongpo understand the value of modesty and don’t flaunt their cured meat-making skills. When complimented on their cured meats, they simply say, “It’s all thanks to the wind—we have good wind here.” Some even say, “The wind in Dongpo varies even between the east and west sides of the street.”

　　Dongpo Beef Jerky: Its production history is also long-standing. During the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli era (1573–1619), Dongpo was a stopover on the official route from southern Hunan’s Lanshan, Xintian, and Jiahe counties to Guangzhou, with over 100,000 travelers passing through each year. Dongpo Town would slaughter cattle daily to supply merchants. Occasionally, when unsold beef couldn’t be preserved due to spoilage, merchants suffered losses, causing great concern. One butcher had a bright idea—to roast the beef over charcoal, discovering it had a particularly delicious aroma. He then experimented with adding various seasonings, improving the flavor even more. And so began the tradition of Dongpo beef jerky, which continues to this day.

　　Making Dongpo beef jerky is not complicated—boneless beef is cut into strips weighing either 250g or 500g, seasoned with appropriate amounts of wine and saltwater, placed on an iron sieve, and slowly roasted over a charcoal fire while occasionally flipping until both sides turn golden brown. However, the amount of wine and saltwater, as well as the heat level, requires precision. The finished beef jerky is washed and sliced thin, then can be steamed or stir-fried. With pickled bamboo shoots as a seasoning, it’s called “Pickled Bamboo Shoot Beef Jerky”; with pickled vegetables, it’s called “Pickled Vegetable Beef Jerky.” There are also varieties such as “Sweet Bamboo Shoot Beef Jerky” and “Fermented Black Bean Chili Beef Jerky.” It’s said that when Comrade 1 led the Red Seventh Army through Dongpo Town in Lianzhou, General Feng Dafei’s family once served Dongpo beef jerky to these special guests. Comrade 1 reportedly remarked after tasting it, “Delicious, delicious.”