Yao smoked cured pork

Yao smoked cured pork

　　Yao smoked cured pork is a distinctive local delicacy from Hezhou, Guangxi, primarily produced in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County.

　　Product features

　　Yao smoked cured pork is made from authentic, traditionally-raised rural pork and cured with the Yao people’s unique rice wine. The resulting healthy cured meat has a rich meaty aroma, excellent texture, and a delicious taste that is fatty yet not greasy, making it truly unforgettable. Every year during the lean season in March and April when food supplies run low, or when guests visit, hospitable Yao people will take the smoked pork from the kitchen stove or hearth, clean off the dust, and then cut it whole, in slices, or prepare it by steaming, boiling, or stir-frying... Once the smoked pork is fully cooked, the pork skin turns a yellow-golden hue like Shoushan stone, the fat becomes translucent like amber, and the lean meat refined like black agate. The fragrance fills the entire room, and it is then ready to be served. Paired with a cup of homemade Yao rice wine and a few slices of meat, it offers a taste that garners endless praise.

　　Production process

　　First, the pig is slaughtered, split open, and any parts unsuitable for curing are removed. Then, pork sections still attached to ribs are selected and chopped into pieces weighing about 1–2 pounds each. These are placed in a jar with salt, Yao rice wine, and spices, then covered and left to cure. After two or three days, once the pork changes from red to pale, it is taken out and threaded for smoking and curing.

　　First, the Yao people thread the cured meat pieces and neatly arrange them on bamboo poles. They are then taken outside to the courtyard or under the eaves to be sun-dried for several days in the winter sun until the moisture in the meat fully evaporates. At this point, the meat takes on some of the color and flavor of cured pork. The Yao then move the semi-cured meat into their kitchens and place it above the hearth or stove, where it is smoked by the daily burning of firewood. Over time, the cured meat becomes coated with a thick layer of gray-black soot from the smoke and wood, and its texture turns firm. At this stage, the smoked cured pork is complete and ready to be taken down and eaten at any time.

　　Nutritional value

　　1. Cured pork is rich in phosphorus, potassium, and sodium, and also contains fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and other elements.

　　2. Cured pork is made by selecting fresh, skin-on pork belly, cutting it into chunks, and curing it with salt, a small amount of nitrite (or substitute), black pepper, cloves, bay leaves, fennel, and other spices. It is then air-dried or smoked. It aids digestion, stimulates the appetite, and helps ward off colds.