Shenmu Braised Pork is a specialty delicacy in Shenmu County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. Shenmu Braised Pork is ruddy in color, fragrant in smell, soft and glutinous in texture, minced but not rotten, rich and mellow in flavor. It is known as "fat meat will not make your mouth greasy after eating, and lean meat has no residue and is full of oil".
Braised pork, the name of the dish, is made from pork as the main ingredient, with auxiliary ingredients such as onions, ginger, and refined salt. It is fat but not greasy, has a lingering fragrance in the mouth, is suitable for all ages, and is deeply loved and respected by the public. In the thousands of years of Chinese food culture, it has always occupied a place with a steaming attitude. Braised pork has a long history and is famous far and wide.
Due to different regions, the preparation methods of braised pork are also different. Sichuan, Cangzhou, Hengshui, Ruicheng, and other places have become local specialties and are sought after. Shenmu in northern Shaanxi Province , the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Mongolia Golden Triangle, bordering Ordos to the northwest, facing Luliang across the Yellow River to the east, and is located in the transition area between the Inner Mongolia grasslands and the Loess Plateau. At the intersection of nomadic civilization and agricultural civilization, people’s eating habits prefer meat that is neither fat nor greasy. Braised pork has both of these characteristics and has become an indispensable delicacy on the table of Shenmu people.
Walking on the bustling streets of Shenmu, you can see fragrant braised meat shops everywhere. It is said that the morning of Shenmu people starts with a fragrant braised pork and cheese. People get up early in the morning and rush out to the braised meat shop. Shenmu people adhere to the ancient preparation method of braised pork and retain its delicious taste to this day.
In addition to the "braised" process, the most important thing in making braised pork is the cleaning of the ingredients. Pour the purchased pig intestines into a basin, add hot water, and use a unique technique to clean the large intestines. Then pour the pig liver, pig lungs, and pig throat into a basin for cleaning. The throat is divided into the trachea and the esophagus. When cleaning, the esophagus must be cut open to ensure that all parts of it are cleaned and health can enter through the mouth. The treatment of pig hair on pig heads, pig ears, pig knuckles, and pig trotters requires more meticulous care. After the pig hair is cleaned with a dehairing machine in the slaughterhouse, we put the head and feet on a slow orchid charcoal fire to char them until they are brown. If the pig hair is not burned properly, we use a red-hot chopstick to scald it to remove the remaining pig hair. The nest smell is burned away. We also pay attention to the cutting of the ingredients. When cleaning the pig head, remove the brittle bones, and then cut open the thick parts of the meat with a knife, so that the seasoning will be better when cooking the meat.
After cleaning the ingredients, put them into the soup pot. The taste of braised pork depends on the brine used in making it, so we will introduce the brine production first. Divide the brine medicine package formula into two parts, put each into a loose gauze bag and tie the mouth of the bag tightly with a string. Crush the washed ginger slices and wash and tie the green onions with their roots. Roast the large pieces of rock sugar over the fire, then place it on the cutting board and gently crush it, then put it into the pot with the refined oil, stir-fry over low heat until it turns dark red, add a little boiling water and stir evenly, that is Into sugar color. Put the pot on the fire, add fresh soup, add ginger and green onion, add refined salt, monosodium glutamate and sugar color, then add the spice bag, bring to a boil, then use low heat to slowly simmer until the fragrance is overflowing, it is a fresh brine. .
Put the pork into the brine pot. When cooking, put weights, bricks and other heavy objects on the pot lid to prevent the brine from overflowing and losing the flavor. An hour and a half later, the cooked pork head was taken out of the pot, and the aroma filled the sky over the entire courtyard. The freshly pulled pork was so bright and delicious that it made people salivate. After the pig head meat is fished out, the meat is removed from the skull. This process requires experienced people to completely peel the meat from the bones.
Some people like to eat braised pork rice, some people like to eat braised pork noodles, and Shenmu people like to eat braised pork and cheese together. The chewy cheese combined with the delicious braised pork makes your mouth water. Braised meat can increase appetite, and most of the braised condiments have the effects of appetizing, strengthening the spleen, digesting and resolving stagnation. Therefore, in addition to meeting the body's needs for protein and vitamins, braised pork can also achieve the purpose of appetizing and increasing appetite. Shenmu people like to call braised meat and cheese hamburger Shenmu style, which shows how much people like it.
The deliciousness of Shenmu braised pork has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. It is this deep-rooted complex that makes the traditional making skills of Shenmu braised pork passed down from generation to generation. Shenmu people's love for braised pork is not only due to their greed and obsession with the taste, but also because of people's love and respect for the craft passed down from generation to generation. Shenmu braised pork tells the past and carries the future.