Hani twice-smoked meat 烟熏肉

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A dear friend went home for Hani New Year 哈尼族过年 recently and returned with a gift of some specialty meat from her village. It's a prime cut of pork belly 五花肉 that is first marinated or brined 腌制, then slow smoked over low coals, followed by a quick whiff of evergreen cypress 柏树。Finally, it's hung outside in the shade for a week or two and rubbed daily with various spices, sort of kneading them into the meat. Each part of the process must be adjusted for weather and other natural factors.

 

So much flavor is packed in by this intricate process, that it's best when cooked simply. Goes by the name of 烟熏肉 or 烟熏腊肉, with 烟 and 熏 both meaning smoked. It was made from my friend's family "New Year's pig," the animal which had been carefully raised for most of the year with this special occasion in mind. 

 

Here's how I prepared for supper it today, at home in Kunming. After first washing under running water, it should be briefly blanched 焯。I put into boiling water, then turned off the flame after it returned to a boil, and left it 5 or 6 minutes. Lifted it out 捞出来 and set it aside to cool and dry 一旁待用。

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile I prepped the vegetables, a simple but flavorful combination of garlic greens 蒜苗, spring onions 大葱，and peppers 请教/红椒。These long green peppers have a little bit of heat, but nothing really challenging. I remove the white pith and some of the seeds.

 

 

 

Sliced the meat thin after it was cool enough to handle. Got everything ready.

 

 

 

When my rice cooker signaled that it was done, I fried the meat fast 翻炒 in very little oil. The meat itself releases some fat as it cooks. When it has turned a deep golden color, scoop it out and save it off to the side 备用。

 

 

 

 

Even though we often wipe out the wok after precooking 煸炒 the meat, this time that would be a felony crime. The oil that is left has way too much flavor to discard. We use it to stir-fry the vegetables, adding them in an appropriate cooking order. Ones that take longest to cook, such as the peppers, go in first, followed by the garlic greens and finally the spring onion.

 

 

 

Last of all, add back the meat. I added a dash (about a quarter teaspoon) of MSG 少许味精, but you can omit it if you prefer. No salt needed most of the time. Stir in a small amount of corn starch slurry 水淀粉 as a binder and agitate the wok slowly another half minute or so. (I used 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch and a tablespoon of water.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve it up 装盘 beside bowls of steamed rice 米饭。Go right ahead and 动筷子，no need to stand on ceremony.

 

 

 

 

 

It's a robust and hearty dish which goes well with 白酒。(And no, Dorothy, that does not translate as "white wine.")

[Shelley]

As usual you have excelled in your descriptions and photos, my mouth always waters when I read your recipes.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share.

 

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You're welcome, Shelley.

[Bigdumogre]

And now I’m really hungry 

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I should probably add that this dish can be made with smoked pork, available packaged in Chinese grocery stores anywhere. One could also probably substitute thick-sliced, applewood-smoked bacon to good effect, but it would have a bit less lean and a bit more fat.

[Alex_Hart]

Looks great, abcd. Sorry I can't try it. Out of curiosity, how does this compare to the 腊肉 that I've seen hanging outside everybody's windows around New Year?

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10 hours ago, Alex_Hart said:

Out of curiosity, how does this compare to the 腊肉 that I've seen hanging outside everybody's windows around New Year?

 

It is in point of fact a type of 腊肉, but usually made from pieces of pork belly 五花肉 that have a more even balance of lean to fat meat. Plus some, like the piece I was given, is given a brief second smoking over green cedar.

 

It's something that is very much a part of Chinese New Year, or in this case Hani New Year. In and around Lu Chun 绿春, in Yunnan's high south mountains, they celebrate this in early November or late October. The date moves from year to year, tied partly to the crop cycle, rice harvest and such, but ultimately set or at least approved by a shaman. This year it was on 20 October, which was seen as auspicious because of a full moon.

 

The people in my friend's village are poor subsistence farmers who don't always have meat. It's something reserved for a special occasion. Extended families communally raise one pig, carefully feeding and tending it a whole year. Then it is killed shortly before the New Year celebration so the bounty can become part of a big feast.

 

Over time one such feast became famous throughout Yunnan and throughout China, namely the Hani Long Street Banquet 长街宴。 It has become an established (domestic) tourist draw, very jolly, gay, and 热闹。Free flowing spirits, singing and dancing.