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Sichuan stinky pork is used for VIPs.

Hanging on the beam for 53 years, is this meat really still edible?

By Bavaro ChoutePublished about a year ago 5 min read
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Sichuan stinky pork is used for VIPs.
Photo by Gor Davtyan on Unsplash

"Unlike most people who like to eat fresh pork, the Zaba people prefer to seal the pork and eat it only after years and months.

If you use the Zaba language translation, "stale pork" or "old pork" is more appropriate, but because of its very strange taste, even more than the most powerful stinky tofu, we all call it "stinky pork "stinky pork.

In the customs of the Zaba people, stinky pork is a very senior ingredient, it symbolizes the highest courtesy of the Zaba people's home hospitality. If there are guests at home, the host will use the stinky pork to treat guests.

If you walk into a Zaba house, you will invariably see one or several whole pigs that have been dried hanging from the beams of their houses.

Once the pork is hung on the beam, it will not be easily taken down, and will only be taken down from the beam when an important guest visits or on other important days.

There was even a pig that was stored on the beam for 53 years.

Previously, the CCTV program "Home from Afar" brought Zaba culture into the public's view, and along with the Zaba people, the pig that had been stored on the beams for 53 years came into our sight.

In the face of the interview, the Zaba people proudly told reporters that the "stinky pork" is the most authentic cuisine here, almost every Zaba people's house will have, in general, this pork will be hung for at least three years before consumption, and the pursuit of taste will be kept longer.

Pork

If a pig can be hung for 53 years, the owner of the pig must have been a very taste-conscious person.

However, in terms of taste, this pig smells unappealing. Due to long storage, it has become a real "stinky pork", and the smell emitted makes people wonder if it is a powerful "biochemical weapon".

But just like "his honey, my arsenic", the stinky pork that outsiders avoid is a delicacy in the eyes of the Zaba people.

But the question arises, this kind of pork stored for decades really can still eat?

The production of stinky pork

The Zaba people answered this question with their own experience, and the pork that has been stored for decades is not only edible but also a delicacy in their eyes.

The stinky pork that has been stored for a long time is still edible, thanks to the way the Zaba people make it.

After the pigs are fattened up, the Zaba people will use ropes to kill them.

Unlike most people who sharpen their knives before killing a pig, the Zaba do not use a knife to kill the pig but use a rope around the neck of the pig to strangle the pig.

After strangulation, the Zaba people and the pig's chest with a knife slit, breaking the heart of the pig's blood, so that all the blood in the meat back to the internal organs, and then from the smallmouth will be hollowed out the internal organs.

After this step, the inside of the pig is empty, and then the Zaba people will stuff barley and other grains into the pig's stomach, filling it to the brim, then smear butter and straw ash on the opening, sewing up the mouth, and then stuff the ears, mouth and other seven orifices with Zao ash and red clay to inflate the air and ensure that the stomach is isolated from the air.

In simple terms, the above steps are sealing treatment, I believe this will not be unfamiliar to anyone.

The purpose of sealing is to let the lactic acid bacteria fermentation, you know, lactic acid bacteria is an anaerobic bacteria, only isolated from oxygen to work well.

And after sealing, lactobacillus fermentation can effectively prevent aerobic bacteria from decomposing proteins as well as blocking some scary harmful microorganisms, so fermentation can greatly extend the shelf life.

But the storage time of stinky pork greatly exceeds the shelf life of general food, so obviously, if you just seal up the belly of the pig after fermentation and then leave it alone, it is not possible.

After sealing the pig, Zaba people will put the pig in dry wheat bran to absorb water, and constantly replace the wet wheat bran skin with dry wheat bran skin, this process will last about half a month, and the outer skin of the pig will slowly dry down.

After doing this, the next step is the most critical one.

The Zaba people hang the initially dried pig on the roof beam to ensure that it can be exposed to smoke and fire. The isolated Zaba people usually cook by the traditional way of burning firewood, so whenever they cook by a fire, the grass and wood smoke will go straight to the pig hanging on the beam.

In the process of smoking, the grease and moisture on the pig would be completely dried out. You know, before the invention of frozen storage means, clever humans have long found that air-dried meat can be stored for a longer period, because dry meat is difficult to breed bacteria.

Smoking day after day, coupled with the local climate being relatbeingely dry, these pigs are difficult to become wet, so there is the preservation of decades of pork that does not go bad.

"Stinky pork" in the end fragrant or not

Although with a set of perfect production processes and craftsmanship, pork can indeed be preserved for a long time, there is still a question lingering in everyone's mind, that is, whether the aged pork is good or not.

The "Home from Away" team was also curious about this issue, so the host tried it for everyone to find out what authentic food tastes like.

According to her description, the smell of stinky pork is pungent, and the entrance is very bitter and difficult to swallow, but after chewing carefully will taste a rich wine aroma, eating or more powerful, a unique flavor.

The smell of wine comes from the grains in the belly of the pig, they become alcohol after fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, and the smell is due to the production of amines in the fermentation process, this amine becomes the main source of the odor.

In this way, stinky pork may be similar to stinky tofu, which is a "smelly and delicious" food, but stinky pork than stinky tofu is a lot more stinky.

For foreigners, it may be difficult to accept the smell of stinky pork, but for the people of Zaba, stinky pork is a long-standing folk tradition that has been passed down to them for generations, and the old and young love to eat it, so it can be said that stinky pork has become one of the national symbols of the people of Zaba.

cuisine
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About the Creator

Bavaro Choute

And I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to

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