Anyue Jar Meat

Anyue Jar Meat

　　Anyue Jar Meat is a specialty snack from Anyue County, Ziyang City, Sichuan Province. It is a distinctive dish from the rural households of Anyue, made by marinating and fermenting fresh meat in earthen jars. During the fermentation process, a large amount of beneficial bacteria that are good for health are produced, resulting in meat that is rich yet not greasy.

　　Jar Meat is the crystallization of wisdom from the working people of Anyue County, Sichuan Province. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, due to food shortages and limited storage conditions, in order to preserve, prevent spoilage, and make the food easier to consume, the ingenious ancestors of Anyue cleverly mixed dried cowpeas, dried vegetables, and other preserved vegetables with pork, seasoned with five-spice and star anise, among other plant-based spices. They layered the dried vegetables with slices of roasted pork, placed them in earthen jars, and after several months, gradually developed a traditional delicacy with a unique flavor, mellow taste, and rich nutrition—ideal both for personal consumption and for entertaining guests. This dish became commonly known as Jar Meat.

　　It is said that in the year 48 AD, Xu Huangyu, the queen mother of Puzhou, carried her mother’s homemade Jar Meat when she sailed to Garak Kingdom (present-day Korea), spreading Chinese cuisine overseas. During the revolutionary war years, An Yue revolutionary Kang Sui always carried Jar Meat in his basket. Leveraging its high nutritional value and easy storability, he used the coded phrases “Selling Jar Meat!” “Is this Tongxian Jar Meat?” “No, it’s from Puzhou!” to connect with fellow revolutionaries and gather or transmit intelligence. He successfully organized and launched the shocking “Tongxian Uprising,” pushing the revolutionary movement in Anyue to new heights. After the Tongxian Uprising, many revolutionaries joined the Red Army marching north to resist Japan, allowing the story of Jar Meat to spread far and wide along the Red Army’s path, earning fame across China.