Where is the best bacon?

Bacon is a kind of cured meat in China. Because it is usually cured on the second day of the twelfth lunar month, it is called "bacon". Because of the different climate and living habits in different parts of China, cured meat has derived various flavors. Southerners like pickled pork, while northerners like pickled beef. Of course, there are pig, sheep viscera, chickens, ducks and fish as raw materials for curing.

Classifying bacon by region is probably the best way to reflect the taste differences of different bacon. There are many ways and varieties of bacon in China, but Guangdong, Hunan and Sichuan are the most famous.

Guangdong bacon. Cantonese bacon is divided into red wax and Bai La. The traditional bacon in Foshan is mainly red wax, that is, soy sauce is added in the curing process, and the bacon has a sauce flavor and a color like amber. Bai La is popular in northern Guangdong, and the famous preserved food in Dongpo of Lianzhou is a typical Bai La. Bai La is more primitive and smells better.

Cantonese-style bacon is characterized by being cured with wine, so Cantonese-style bacon smells a faint bouquet, the fat is amber and transparent, and the taste is crisp and crystal clear, fat but not greasy. Lean meat is bright and firm, tough and elastic, and there is no obvious dent in finger pressure. The aroma of wine is rich, and the more you chew it, the more fragrant it becomes. In addition to bacon, Guangdong's more distinctive bacon tastes include gold and silver liver and preserved duck run. Guangdong's classic bacon dishes include steamed bacon, boiled pork feet with radish, roasted rice with bacon, boiled duck with taro and so on.

Hunan bacon. Hunan's climate is warm and humid, smoked bacon is antiseptic and storable, and local people have also developed the eating habit of eating bacon. The most famous Hunan bacon are Anhua bacon and Xiangxi bacon. Anhua bacon is big, black in color, smoked dry, fine in meat quality and delicious; The bacon in Xiangxi is red and bright, smoked and salty.

Because Hunan bacon has been smoked for a long time in the production process, many burned stumps have special fragrance, so the smoked bacon is not attractive, but it tastes salty, oily and not greasy, which is very popular with consumers.

Sichuan bacon. Sichuan bacon is golden in appearance, distinct in red and white, bright in color, moderately salty and fragrant, suitable for wine and rice. The production method of Sichuan bacon is to marinate the slaughtered local fresh pork with salt, white wine, spiced powder and pepper according to different tastes. In the past, all villagers in Sichuan burned firewood stoves with shelves on them. After the twelfth lunar month, they used the residual temperature of the stove mouth to hang the pickled meat on the shelf of the stove mouth and smoked it with the rising smoke in the stove. Some villagers also add white teeth, orange peel, grapefruit shell and other things to the stove to smoke it into a special flavor and taste.

Zhejiang Jinhua ham. Also known as Huobi, it is one of the local traditional famous products in Jinhua, Zhejiang. It is famous for its beautiful appearance, bright meat, unique fragrance and pleasant flavor, that is, the "four musts" of color, fragrance, taste and shape. Jinhua's "double-headed black" pig has fat hind legs and tender meat. After curing, shaping, turning legs, washing, drying and other processes, it takes several months to make it. The fragrance is rich. Easy to store and carry, selling well at home and abroad.

Yunnan Xuanwei ham. One of the famous local specialties in Yunnan Province, named after its production in Xuanwei. Its main characteristics are: it looks like a pipa, with only big bones and small bones, thin skin and thick meat, and moderate fat; Cut into sections, with rich aroma and bright color, lean meat is bright red or rose red, fat meat is milky white, bones are slightly pink, and blood gas looks moist. Its quality is good enough to represent Yunnan ham, so it is often called "cloud leg".

Yunnan nuodeng ham. The natural salt well of Nuodeng with a history of thousands of years has created the unique delicacy of Nuodeng ham. In the documentary "China on the Tip of the Tongue" produced by CCTV, there is a 6-minute video about Yunnan Nuodeng Ham. It was this short 6 minutes that Jeannot Deng Ham became famous instantly. Nuodeng ham made by skillful Bai women in Yunlong County is one of the three famous legs in Yunnan except Xuanwei ham and Heqing round leg. As early as the pre-Qin period, it was exported to Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, India and Vietnam through the "Southern Silk Road".

Anhui Huizhou knife board incense. Anyone who loves Huizhou cuisine should know "Dao Xiang". The "knife incense" made of bacon is a main course for Huizhou people to entertain guests. It can be said that if you haven't eaten the incense of the knife board, it is equivalent to not eating authentic Huizhou cuisine. The knife board incense in Huizhou is made of black pigs, Lantian pigs and farm pigs produced in Huizhou, and the rich pork flavor is incomparable to the pigs fed by feed. Shannon's practice is to put the slices into a large iron pot burning wood and steam them dry. Large bowls of coarse porcelain with blue edges are piled in a pyramid shape. Pork pieces are red and white, sparkling, and the aroma goes straight to people's noses. The bamboo shoots braised with knife board have both the fragrance of bamboo shoots and the thick soup of meat, which is simply more delicious than meat.

Beijing sauce meat. Beijing Sauced Meat, also known as Beijing-style ham, and Jinhua ham and Guangdong bacon are also called the three famous meats in China, which is a traditional famous food with China characteristics. Created in the Ming Dynasty, it was mostly made by Shandong restaurants in the early years. Shandong people called soy sauce clear sauce, so it was called clear sauce meat.

The production method is to remove the pig's hind leg bone, marinate it for 7 days, then soak it in a soy sauce tank for 8 days, usually in the twelfth lunar month, and then air-dry it until the surface of the ham oozes oil the next spring. Its meat is delicious but not greasy, and can be preserved for 2 years. The finished product is sauce red, the shredded pork is distinct, the mouth is crisp, the flavor is delicious, the mouth is not greasy, the fat slices are thin, crystal clear, the lean slices are not scattered, and the flavor is unique.

Badong bacon in Enshi, Hubei. The raw material of meat comes from "Selenium Capital of China"-pigs that eat wild vegetables in Enshi mountain area. Every year in the twelfth lunar month, every farmer kills Nian pig and Kang bacon. Farmers salted the pork and hung it on the pit of the farmhouse, and smoked it with firewood for a long time. Its taste is different from other wax products, with brown color, hard outside and soft inside, rich aroma and unique flavor. Tujia people in Enshi have a special hobby for the taste of bacon, so Tujia bacon is famous all over the country.

Guizhou Chishui Alpine Bacon. The alpine bacon in Chishui is made of pigs and pork by farmers and hung on the stove burning firewood for a long time. I don't know, it's dark, and sometimes it's moldy. How to eat? When the host processes bacon, or cooks bamboo shoots or fried Sichuan-style pork, you can't help but move your index finger when you see pieces of bacon crystal clear, delicious but not greasy, oily but not bright. That special smell makes you unforgettable. This kind of bacon in Chishui Mountain is the best. Chishui locals also regard eating a real mountain bacon as a beautiful thing.

Gansu Longxi bacon. Longxi is "the hometown of China bacon", and Longxi bacon is rated as China's intangible cultural heritage. Longxi bacon has a long history, which began in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Longxi bacon slaughter pigs mainly come from Zhang Xi 'an and Min County, especially the Potentilla anserina pigs in Min County. Because there are a large number of wild medicinal materials in Min County, the pigs raised by farmers graze in spring and are kept in captivity in autumn. When bacon curing households buy and slaughter in winter, pork is fat and thin, medicinal and pure in taste. Lean meat is gorgeous like Xia Hong, thin but not firewood; The fat meat is crystal clear as agate, fat but not greasy, slightly transparent. The meat cured and dried with salt, pepper, fennel, ginger bark, cinnamon, Daxiang and other seasonings 10 has delicious color and unique flavor.

Shanxi Changzhi donkey meat breast. It is famous both inside and outside Shanxi Province, and it is a famous specialty in Shanxi Province. The traditional technology of Changzhi preserved donkey meat has the formula of "nine"; That is, cut the meat into nine parts, soak it for nine hours, cook it with nine spices, then add the old soup of double spiced herbs, simmer it with stones for nine hours, and finally take it out of the pot for nine hours to dry. Pickled donkey meat is bright in color, tender in meat quality, fragrant and delicious, and suitable for table wine.

Henan Kaifeng cured mutton. Kaifeng preserved mutton is bright in color, firm in meat quality and slightly elastic. After the advent of cured mutton, it has been circulated among Muslims, and some people or businessmen have put it on the market, and most of them are workshop-style production and small-scale operation. By the Qing dynasty, the production technology of preserved mutton had reached the point of perfection.

Bacon is a kind of cured meat in China. Because it is usually cured on the second day of the twelfth lunar month, it is called "bacon".

In China, Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou and other places, bacon is an indispensable food for holidays, especially Xiangxi Tujia bacon has a history of thousands of years. The tradition of processing and making bacon is not only long-standing, but also universal.

But you know what the best part is? What are the characteristics? The following tips will take you to know:

First, Xiangxi, Hunan:

Speaking of the most authentic bacon, Xiangxi bacon is the most famous. After a long period of smoking in the production of Xiangxi bacon, many burning stumps have special fragrance. Therefore, although the smoked bacon is ugly, it tastes salty and fragrant, oily but not greasy, and is deeply loved by consumers.

Second, Sichuan:

Sichuanese have the custom of cooking bacon in winter. As a pepper-rich Sichuan province, the biggest difference between Sichuan bacon and other places is that the seasoning is richer.

Third, Guizhou:

Autumn bacon is one of the traditional customs in Guizhou. The so-called "autumn" actually means that the smoked bacon will have the unique smoke smell of pine and cypress branches, which is delicious!

Fourth, Guangdong:

Guangdong bacon is characterized by being marinated in wine, so Guangdong bacon smells faint wine, and the fat is amber and transparent, with crisp and crystal taste, fat but not greasy. Lean meat is bright and firm, tough and elastic, and there is no obvious dent in finger pressure. The aroma of wine is rich, and the more you chew it, the more fragrant it becomes.

Five, Enshi City, Hubei Province:

Badong bacon in Enshi, Hubei. Its taste is different from other wax products, with brown color, hard outside and soft inside, rich aroma and unique flavor. Tujia people in Enshi have a special hobby for the taste of bacon, so Tujia bacon is famous all over the country.

Six, Gansu Longxi:

Longxi, Gansu Province is known as "the hometown of China bacon", and Longxi bacon is also a famous traditional dish in Gansu Province. Began in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, pork was cured with various seasonings and then exposed to the sun, with a unique taste.

When I was a child, bacon smelled like Chinese New Year. When I grow up, bacon is the flavor of my hometown. Is there any bacon from your hometown on the list? Come and make a phone call for the bacon in my hometown!

First of all, if bacon is delicious, you must choose good pork. Enshi black pork, bright red, fat, tender and juicy, is the best material for bacon. Black pork alone accounts for half of the reasons why Xiangchuan bacon is not recommended. Good pork can kill seconds.

Secondly, pork is divided into three to five Jin (or larger) pieces, which is convenient for eating, processing and storage.

Stir-fry salt, add pepper and stir-fry until fragrant. Wipe the meat evenly with warm salt, put it in a pot, with the bottom skin facing down, the top skin facing up and the meat facing down, and arrange it neatly, turn it every three days, drain the water after 15 days, and hang it in a fumigation room.

Bacon is the most critical step. Smoked and baked with pine and cypress branches with walnut shell, orange peel, a small amount of chaff and orange branches for more than a month until the meat turns brown.

Bacon smoked with pine and cypress branches, walnut shells, orange peel and orange branches is more colorful and attractive than bacon smoked with sawdust and chaff alone.

The reason why Enshi bacon is delicious lies in the choice of smoking materials and the fireworks that last for a month. Almost every Tujia family in Badong, Enshi has a smoking room. It is a local tradition to cook a batch of delicious bacon during the New Year. I've traveled almost all the provincial capitals and many cities in China, but I've never seen a second one like Enshi, which pickled for ten and a half months and smoked bacon for another month. This is also the secret of Enshi bacon delicious.

In the last two years, I ate bacon, and at the end of the year, local friends helped me, from pig selection to finished products. If you cook too much, hang it on the stove in Enshi's hometown. Bacon on the stove tastes better.

This question can only be answered in this way: people everywhere will like local bacon. Phuket believes in Sunshine Mountain people and likes the local bacon in Dabie Mountain area best.

The hilly area of Guangshan County belongs to subtropical climate, which is rainy, with four distinct seasons and high air humidity. Local bacon, in five counties in the south of Xinyang, is adjacent to Anhui and Hubei, and then to Jiangxi in the south. Because of the same practice, it has the same flavor in a large area.

Every year in the twelfth lunar month in history, every household has to kill the fat pigs that have been fed for a year, which is called "killing pigs". The meat of a pig, except for some for relatives, is salted into bacon and eaten in the next rice transplanting season. The method is simple: when killing pigs, the butcher divides all the meat into long strips, each weighing about 3 kg. Put these strips in a big pot, spread a layer of meat and salt, and then put them there. Take it out after three days, put on a string and hang it under the eaves. Because of the high air humidity and rainy weather, it will dry in about 10 day, and it can be taken back to the house in half a month and hung in a ventilated place. Although the whole process is mainly air-drying, the customary name is "drying bacon". Most acquaintances will encounter this sentence in the twelfth lunar month: "Is the bacon dry?"

Puji also cooked bacon after he came to Zhengzhou, but it didn't taste like bacon in his hometown. Later, I learned that the air in Zhengzhou is dry and the meat is cured in one day, unlike my hometown, which takes ten days. It turns out that the so-called bacon is a "waxing" process. You did it in one day. Without the time and process of waxing, it is not bacon, but dried meat.

The way to eat bacon is the same everywhere. Steamed, fried and boiled are delicious. Especially in different seasons, it is delicious to cook a dish with fresh seasonal ingredients. For example, in spring, preserved pork cooks moss, preserved pork cooks eel, and preserved pork cooks old turtle, which is the most delicious in the world.

Now online shopping is convenient, and Phuket can easily eat bacon from all over the country, which is delicious. He especially likes bacon in western Hunan, and the taste of rosin is very unique.

The words "food, clothing, housing and transportation" surround our lives. No matter what festival, "what to eat" is the highlight. Regardless of the southeast and northwest, everyone has their own insistence on eating, whether it is simply to express the simple happiness in life with "eating meat at every meal" or to express the pursuit of food with dazzling treasures. Eating is undoubtedly the best communication between people during the Spring Festival.

Youyang, southwest of China, is known as "the modern version of China Peach Blossom Garden". When it comes to Sichuan and Chongqing cuisine, people will naturally think of Chili, Maoxuewang and hot pot. It seems that Sichuan and Chongqing people won't eat unless they eat some spicy food. In fact, there are many dishes in Sichuan cuisine that are not spicy, especially when entertaining relatives and friends during the New Year. You can't guarantee that everyone who comes to your house can eat spicy food, spicy food and bacon. The most common dish for Chinese New Year guests in southwestern provinces is a bacon.

Bacon and sausage can be found everywhere in the country. Chen Xiaoqing, the director of The Tip of the Tongue, blindly chose Youyang. This Peach Blossom Garden is home to the largest number of Tujia people in China, and their persistence in bacon ranks first among 56 ethnic groups in China. In the past, people cooked bacon only because there was no refrigerator in the old society to ensure the freshness of ingredients, and food could only be preserved by pickling and baking.

Pigs that have been raised for a year are killed in winter, and the meat obtained at this time is the fattest. Because the temperature is low enough and there are few bacteria in the air, bacon has gained a unique flavor in the process of curing, baking and air drying. Over time, the name of Tujia bacon spread all over the country.

The key to curing bacon is frying the marinade. Youyang people use spices such as pepper, star anise and cinnamon to grind into powder, then add fine salt and stir fry in the pot. When it is still hot, spread the powder evenly on the fresh pork. The weight of gravy, the proportion of various spices and the intensity of massage all become the key to determine the final quality of bacon. Salt and spices not only play the role of sterilization, but also penetrate the aroma into the meat, which is the source of the first aroma of bacon.

The cured bacon is hung on the beam and enters the second process. The wood used to roast bacon is generally cedar and Eucommia ulmoides, both of which can be found in local forests because they have a strong and persistent aroma. In the process of baking, some orange peels and shells are constantly added to the fire, and the fuel is not fully burned to form smoke, which permeates the meat, making the meat not only thick and smoky, but also fragrant with fruits and trees.

Roasted bacon can be hung on the roof to continue to dry. When the family comes back for the New Year, they can take it down and cook it in hot water, scrape off the black ash outside the skin, wash it, and cut it into thin skin. At this time, you can see the fat and thin red meat fiber and transparent fat, supplemented by red pepper and garlic sprouts, and stir-fry with a little oil, which saves a lot of protein in the dish. Give full play to the most essential smoky and meaty flavor of bacon and the thickness of animal fat.

This is a dish full of human fireworks. There is no elaborate setting in the restaurant, and there is no special way in the theme restaurant, but it is such a simple and primitive way to show the original taste of the New Year to people.

There are also a lot of bacon all over the country. The most popular bacon is from Hunan and Sichuan. Of course, some places like Guizhou, Hubei, Chongqing, southern Shaanxi and Gansu all have the habit of making bacon. Bacon is made in different ways in different places, so it tastes different.

I'm from Zhangjiajie, Hunan, and I belong to Xiangxi area, so I first recommend Xiangxi bacon in Hunan, not only because I'm from Xiangxi, but also because I think Xiangxi bacon tastes really good. The bacon here is best made by rural people themselves, but it is not necessarily bought outside. It's delicious, and it's all made by myself. The cooked pigs raised by rural people themselves also do not contain any harmful substances. Generally speaking, it is salt. After killing the pig, sprinkle salt on the meat, marinate it for a few days, and then hang it and smoke it for a month. This production method is relatively simple, and of course, spices such as pepper and pepper can also be sprinkled. Tastes more delicious.

When smoking, don't smoke with naked flame or fire. We usually smoke here, so it looks dark. Some local bacon or some bacon factories are now smoking with open flames. The advantage of smoking with an open flame is that it is yellow and beautiful. But there is a serious problem, that is, if the temperature is too high, the meat will deteriorate at high temperature and produce harmful substances.

There are many ways to preserve bacon in Xiangxi. It can be steamed directly, cut into pieces or stir-fried. Fried bacon is also your favorite food. Cook the bacon first, then cut into pieces and stir fry, then add pepper, onion ginger, garlic sprout and so on. Cabbage stewed with bacon, radish stewed with bacon, etc. are all delicious in winter. There are three famous cauldrons in Zhangjiajie.

Does anyone like and want to eat Xiangxi bacon?

As far as I know, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places have the custom of curing bacon. In terms of taste, I personally prefer the traditional slow-fire bacon duck in eastern Hunan. The countryside has the habit of keeping warm in winter. After killing pigs in winter, farmers first marinate fresh pork in pottery with salt and pepper for about a week, then air-dry it outdoors for a day or two, and then hang it on the fire and stove for about a month. Smoked bacon is golden in appearance, glittering and translucent in meat quality, fragrant and delicious.

Every year after beginning of winter, Hunan enters the smoking season. Walking into the farmhouse, there is no shortage of bacon on the table. Fresh-baked bacon is oily but not greasy. It is a delicious dish.

First, Sichuan bacon

Bacon should be cooked all over Sichuan, and every household should do it in winter. Buy back fresh leg meat and pork belly, clean them, fry them with salt and let them cool, then add spiced powder and pepper particles, so that the seasoning powder will be more fragrant. First, wipe the pork evenly with white wine, then wipe the meat evenly with the prepared seasoning, hang it in a ventilated place, light the cypress branches, add some dried fruit shells, and then marinate.

Second, Hunan bacon

The practice of Hunan bacon is basically the same as that of Sichuan, and it also eats bacon, but Hunan people like steaming during eating. Add lobster sauce and tea oil, add bacon, steam, and steam bacon, sausage, preserved fish and preserved chicken together. Steamed bacon works better.

Third, Hubei bacon

Hubei bacon actually belongs to the style of air-dried meat. After bacon is not smoked, put it in a ventilated place to dry naturally. The bacon made in this way is full of flavor, which can be stewed, fried and burned.

Many places in our country will cook bacon, mainly pork, as well as chickens, ducks, geese and donkeys. As far as bacon is concerned, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Anhui, Guangdong and other places in China have a unique flavor of bacon, and Jinhua, Zhejiang's ham is also a must.

As far as personal taste preference is concerned, I personally prefer Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Chongqing and Hunan Hui bacon, smoked or blown by the wind, which is characterized by heavy taste, mellow taste and bright meat.

My hometown makes wind-blown bacon. Although the most famous bacon in Chongqing is smoked, I still like wind-blown bacon best. Wind-blown bacon should be salted meat from Anhui, which may have been brought by immigrants in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

To kill pigs in the twelfth lunar month, put the pork cut into long pieces on the stove (the kind of stove smashed by Sima Guang) and marinate it with salt for 5-7 days, then take it out and hang it directly under the beam in a ventilated place. The walls of old-fashioned rural buildings in Chongqing are not sealed, but are generally woven with bamboo strips near the beams, which is ventilated and breathable.

After blowing for about a month, the fat began to turn from white to golden yellow. At this time, the salty taste was really stimulated. It will be more delicious if you eat it around Qingming next year. Take the bacon down, burn it with firewood until it is oily, wash rice, boil it in water, slice it and fry it dry or slice it and steam it. It tastes most comfortable.

Don't throw away the stew. Cooking some vegetables or noodles is also delicious. Wax oil soup is fragrant, hot and salty, which just supplements the oil sweat lost by physical labor.

In this upcoming bacon season, it seems to me that the question of "where is the best bacon in the country" is a topic that has a great collision with local customs. The reason is too simple, that is, everyone has already printed it in their hearts: the bacon in their hometown is the best!

The bacon and lean meat in my hometown are pink and the fat is translucent. Whether steamed or fried, it tastes sweet.

Bacon made from Guangxi Bama Xiang pig has bright color, milky yellow skin, crisp skin and sweet meat, which can be regarded as a major feature of Guangxi bacon industry.

The bacon in Nanning, Guangxi is also unique: the bacon is dry and consistent, the meat is bright, the fat is transparent, the lean meat is sweet and the bacon is rich.

In my opinion, the bacon in Baise, Guangxi is more distinctive. First, burn the pigskin to golden brown (otherwise you can't eat it), and then wash it with warm water several times. After the slices are cooked, the fat meat feels crisp and crisp, the lean meat is particularly fragrant and the bacon is very rich.

Bacon in Guangxi, I believe that in this multi-ethnic area, the taste of bacon in many places is definitely different. Now I have described the characteristics of bacon in four places.

As for Guangdong bacon, I only ate it once in Qianerbao Company in Foshan, which gave me the impression that it was golden in color, transparent in fat, delicious in meat, and the smell of bacon was very suitable.

In a word, I don't think anyone can know all the characteristics of bacon all over the country, so I can only write what I know for your reference.