Hanzhong Cured Meat

Hanzhong Cured Meat

　　 Walking through the alleys of Hanzhong’s old streets, you can always catch a mouthwatering aroma. Following your nose, you’ll find it’s the festive scent of Hanzhong Cured Meat, well-known to locals. During the Spring Festival season, traditional Hanzhong families make this cured meat in the lunar month of December as an essential part of their New Year provisions.

　　With a long history and delicious color, aroma, and taste

　　As the name suggests, Hanzhong Cured Meat is meat cooked in a cured broth, but it differs from cured meat (la rou). Cured meat is smoked, has less moisture, and is saltier; Hanzhong Cured Meat is also different from regular braised meat. Braised meat is cooked in a seasoned broth—made with salt water, five-spice powder, or soy sauce—that the meat is simmered in until done. However, Hanzhong Cured Meat doesn’t use ginger, scallions, cooking wine, or sugar for coloring. It simply requires boiling the meat with a few Chinese herbs and spices. In Hanzhong, the curing ingredients are mixed together into a medicinal herb packet, which is then used to brew the cured broth. This broth not only provides a unique fragrance but also offers various health benefits such as aiding digestion, soothing the lungs, regulating qi, dispelling cold, relieving pain, removing stagnation, and stimulating appetite. This is truly a unique gem in Chinese culinary culture and can be considered an original creation of the people of Hanzhong, reflecting the local customs and traditions. Hanzhong Cured Meat is a specialty food in the Hanzhong region. Eating it is a favorite pastime among locals. Whether in the city or countryside, almost every household has a cured meat pot. When guests arrive, it's convenient to take out the pot and cook the meat on the spot. Hanzhong Cured Meat is a type of braised meat made in a sauce pot. It is more tender and juicy than regular braised meat, with a long-lasting rich flavor. Thanks to the careful selection of ingredients, comprehensive seasoning, precise cooking technique, and the use of aged broth, the resulting cured meat is truly distinctive. “The fat melts in your mouth without being greasy, the lean meat is tender and full of juiciness, the meat becomes tender on its own without needing to bite hard, and the aftertaste lingers for a long time.” This is a succinct summary by diners about Hanzhong Cured Meat.

　　Once cooked, the cured meat is dark red with a fragrant aroma. Just by looking at its color and smelling its fragrance, it makes your mouth water even before taking a bite. The most common way to eat Hanzhong Cured Meat is to slice it thinly, place it on a plate, and dip it in a flavored sauce. The sauce is made with chili oil, minced ginger, mashed garlic, chopped scallions, vinegar, and MSG. Take a slice of meat, dip it into the sauce, and you’ll notice a distinct herbal taste. But the flavor is aromatic, chewy, refreshing, and full of rich aroma. Another way to enjoy it is to slice the cured meat and stir-fry it with scallions, ginger, garlic, cooking wine, and other seasonings, along with a variety of vegetables—it’s also incredibly delicious.

　　Exquisite Ingredients, Unique Preparation Method

　　Hanzhong Cured Meat uses a wide variety of Chinese herbs and spices. After a long period of special brewing, in addition to having a unique fragrance that distinguishes it from regular braised meat, it also offers medicinal benefits such as clearing the senses and stimulating appetite. According to Mr. Zhang, the owner of a well-established cured meat shop on Huzhiqiao Road in Hanzhong, although Hanzhong Cured Meat may sound mysterious, mastering the method makes it quite simple to prepare: place the herbal medicine packet in a pot of boiling water, bring it to a rapid boil, then slowly simmer to extract the flavors. After adjusting with refined salt, you can add the meat and cook it together.

　　The types of meat used for Hanzhong Cured Meat are also quite diverse, primarily including pork offal (such as pig head, pig liver, pig stomach, pig heart, pig trotters, etc.), but beef, donkey meat, dog meat, as well as chicken, duck, and dried fish can also be used. Cook the meat over low heat, simmering slowly to allow it to fully absorb the color and flavor. The meat should not be overcooked; it needs to be just right, usually around 40 minutes. Then remove the meat—an experienced homemaker can tell the doneness just by the smell. The cured broth and herbal packet used for cooking the meat can be reused multiple times. Store both together in a clay jar. Once cooled, seal it tightly, and it can be preserved for a long time without spoiling. However, when storing, ensure the herbal packet does not float on the surface of the cured broth—push it to the bottom of the jar, otherwise it may grow mold and spoil. Over time, the herbal packet will lose its potency, and when the flavor weakens, it’s time to replace it with a new one.

　　Cured Meat Herbal Packet:

　　The Chinese herbs and spices used in Hanzhong Cured Meat include: 10g of Nardostachys jatamansi, 10g of Kaempferia galanga, 20g of Piper longum, 20g of Alpinia officinarum, 10g of Amomum villosum, 15g of Amomum kravanh, 10g of Asarum heterotropoides, 15g of Angelica dahurica, 20g of Cinnamomum cassia, 15g of Syzygium aromaticum, plus 10g each of star anise and fennel, and 10g of Amomum tsao-ko.