In the field of pickled ham, the season is around the twelfth lunar month. Killing pigs and pickling legs, like a signal gun for sprinting for the New Year, the delicious ham is a grand reward naturally awarded after sprinting.

China's ham venues are mainly concentrated in two major competition areas, namely, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei, represented by Jinhua Ham and Rugao Ham, and Yunguichuan, represented by Yuntui, Weining Ham and Panxian Ham.

Although the climate in the north makes it impossible for it to have superb skills in curing ham, in Longxi, Gansu, the northern ham has also made a separate track.

1. The essence of taste is the contest between pigs.

Material is the essence of taste, and the beauty of legs lies in a good pig.

Wang Xiaobo once pitied, "If no one takes care of it, pigs know exactly how to live. They will wander freely, eat and drink when they are hungry, and talk about love when spring comes. After people came, they made arrangements for their lives: every pig's life has a tragic theme-long meat. "

All hams are sourced from different places. The origin of this taste is the contest between pigs. In order to highlight the tight encirclement on the field, every pig has worked hard on the road of cultivation with feed, exercise and time.

Xuanwei ham in Yunnan comes from the local "Wujin pig", the only free-range domesticated pig in the China Plateau system. The native pig of Nujiang Laowo ham eats wild vegetables, green leafy vegetables and corn, and drinks mountain spring water. After four seasons in the canyon mountains, it can decompose the fresh flavor of cheese after fermentation.

Zhejiang people think that the "two-headed black dog" with thin skin and fine bones and rich meat flavor is the only one who will not make it. While Rugao Ham in Jiangsu Province started to choose local east skewers as the main ingredients for a leg-making stack named "Tonghetai" during Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty.

Western Hubei Black Pig (later renamed Enshi Black Pig) is the supply of Xuanen ham. The Anfu ham in Jiangxi is made of Anfumi pig with small size and thin bones. Huizhou ham comes from South Anhui Flower Pig.

When you become a qualified pig, you enter the ham making process, which is about in winter, and beginning of spring is the best season after the winter solstice.

To make a delicate leg, we should shave and trim the leg embryo. According to the leg shape, it can be divided into "bamboo leaf shape", "pipa shape" and "round shape". The size of legs, meat quality and climatic conditions determine the frequency and quantity of salt used. After that, the salted legs were washed or smoked to continue dehydration and create conditions for fermentation. The topography and climate in different places affect the fermentation time. After smelling and shaping, the cooked ham can be eaten into vegetables or raw.

2. Competition situation of Yunnan-Guichuan Division

(1) Yunnan team has a name for each leg

Yunnan is a strong team in ham. Ham-producing places abound, but the climate, altitude and terrain are different, and a thousand legs also have a thousand flavors.

Qujing Xuanwei ham in northeast Yunnan is the most famous, according to Xuanwei County Records Draft; "Xuantui is famous in the world and the climate makes it so." After fermentation, the surface of ham was attached with green mold, even black. Bamboo needles are inserted into three different parts of ham to identify the quality of ham, and three needles are fragrant and odorless, which is the top grade.

The cut ham is like a fine knitted work of art, and the white jade-like transparent fat shuttles between bright red and rose red lean meat. One-year-old ham smells fragrant, while more than two-year-old ham is rich and sultry, and it tastes excellent when eaten as a dish or raw.

Ham is essential in crossing the bridge rice noodles, and cloud-legged moon cakes occupy a high position in the world of moon cakes because of their uniqueness. There are also local ham and milk cakes. Mr. Wang Zengqi, a glutton who has lived in Kunming for seven years, has his own taste memories. "The part where Kunming people eat ham from the extra-heavy calf to the elbow stick is called' money slice leg'."

Luquan Saba ham should be nominated in central Yunnan, and Chuxiong ham will be produced in the west of central Yunnan. There are also some remote mountainous areas, such as Ailaoshan pig ham and Wuliangshan ham.

In western Yunnan, the Bai nationality has three famous legs-Dali Heqing Round Leg, Yunlong Nuodeng Ham and Lushui Laowo Ham.

It is said that the "rich wine and fat legs" recorded in Heqing Fuzhi refers to Heqing ham. After salting and spraying Heqing dry wine, this alpine ham was taken out of the jar and air-dried and matured.

The climate and terrain in Nuodeng are suitable for deep fermentation of ham. The difference of salt determines the subtle differences in the color and taste of ham. The high potassium salt of pickled Nuodeng ham comes from the ancient Nuodeng well salt, and the salt is fully infiltrated, giving the ham the most agile taste. The skin of the cured ham is sallow, and the meat quality is reddish brown. The rose-red muscle section is wrapped in milky fat, which is suitable for fat and thin, moderate in saltiness, sweet and delicious.

The Nujiang Laowo ham, after being pickled with salt, pepper and wine for several days, was hung above the farmhouse fire pit and smoked with firewood and litsea cubeba. After one or two years, the surface is dark, its flesh color is pink, the meat is tender, the taste is softer, the oil is full and not greasy, and the rich meat flavor has a faint smoky taste.

The score of Sanchuan ham in Yongsheng, Lijiang, northwest Yunnan is the highest. It is necessary to apply salt and white wine to the ham when it is warm, then knead the salt and wine to every corner of the front and back of the leg after cooling, and pile up salt in the tank to complete dehydration for about 21 days; Then wash the salt accumulated on the ham with salted salt water, and hang the ham with wrapping paper to dry.

The ham that has been hung for two months at last should be soaked in a bamboo basket filled with kitchen ashes and fire pit ashes, and the remaining water in the ham is fully absorbed, so there is no need to "press the water out", so Sanchuan ham is also called "soft ham".

The cooked ham is bright red and fragrant. It can be eaten raw after half a year, but the longer it takes, the more fragrant it will be.

Just in time for the chicken fir harvest, put the fat and thin slices of ham into the chicken fir, and the salty and fresh ham will penetrate into it, without any seasoning, so as to maximize the freshness and purity. Every taste is the gift of the mountains and jungles and the fermentation result of time.

Zhaotong Ham, Longqing Ham, Dongshan Ham, Laco Ham, etc. This track is crowded with players from Yunnan.

(2) The Guizhou team has been dormant for many years and finally became a king

The Yi compatriots in Weining, Guizhou Province have the custom of herding in the mountains. The pigs exercise a lot and their leg muscles are strong and full. When pickling with salt, rub a little fennel, pepper and other seasonings on the fresh legs to adjust the flavor. After pickling, hang the legs in a ventilated place to dry. Or hung on a fire pit and smoked for at least one year, ham is given a special smoked flavor. Stored for five or six years, it does not flow oil, does not change taste, and the bacon is more rich and fragrant.

The record of Panzhou people curing ham dates back to the Yuan Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, Panxian ham was "popular in Yunnan". At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was approved by one. Although curing ham is a winter interest and a necessary skill for every household, the appetite for early adopters flows regardless of season.

ham and fish head thick soup, mandarin fish ham, and baked cabbage with soup ham ... Panzhou (formerly known as Panxian), a small southwestern town, has rubbed its respect and love for ham into the happiness of home cooking.

(3) The natural flavor of the Sichuan team in the mountains

Killing pigs and curing ham in Mianning village, Sichuan at an altitude of about 2,111 meters is the most native scenery in beginning of spring in February. Hams of some years are hung under the tile house of every household. They bear the heavy responsibility of adding new year flavor and showing wealth when proposing marriage. The natural flavor in this mountain has already penetrated into people's homes.

3. Competition of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei Division

(1) Jiangsu and Zhejiang teams, three star teams

Jinhua Ham with south leg and Rugao Ham with north leg should be the star players on the field.

according to research, Jinhua folk pickled ham began in the Tang dynasty. Tang Kaiyuan's "Materia Medica" recorded that "ham, Jinhua is the best". Founded in Xianfeng, Qing Dynasty, "Xuefang Jiang" is a century-old brand in the ham industry, with fine meat and tender meat, red like roses; The fat is bright and crystal-like, and it was once listed as a royal tribute.

it is said among the people that "Chinese ham comes from Jinhua, Jinhua ham comes from Dongyang, Dongyang ham comes from Jiang, and Jiang's treasure is the snow boat Jiang." Rugao ham with thin skin and thin claws is famous at home and abroad for its "four wonders" of color, fragrance, taste and shape.

Fried ham with green pepper and steamed pumpkin with ham are home-cooked dishes in ham producing areas. The "honey ham" recorded in Suiyuan Food List is a stunner in the leg. Add white sugar and lotus seeds to the upper part of the ham, then add lard and pine nuts to fry until golden. Finally, thicken it with honey and sweet osmanthus flowers, decorate it with sweet osmanthus flowers from green plums, etc., and the sweetness and tenderness are perfectly melted in the mouth.

(2) Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei teams are strong traditional teams, teaching people skills

When it comes to Huizhou ham, Jinhua ham has to be called "master". There is Jixi ham in Jixi, Xuanshi, and there is a picture of the army of the people holding the ham in both hands carved on the waist flower board of Hu's ancestral hall, which is the direct evidence that Jinhua ham is out of Huizhou.

Huizhou merchants who did business in Jinhua and Lanxi after the Ming Dynasty brought the local style of curing ham in southern Anhui, set up ham shops, and sang Jinhua House with traditional Huizhou ham curing technology. Specifically, Xiuning is called Wanhua Ham, and Huangshan is called Tangkou Ham.

Up to now, the local villagers in Huizhou, southern Anhui still have the tradition of drying ham. Hanging pig legs in front of and behind their houses is the most unique scenery in winter and spring, with bright flesh color, unique fragrance and transparent luster.

As soon as the New Year is over, parents in the countryside will carry strips of ham to their children who are working hard in the city. Ham becomes a tear, conveying their parents' thoughts and memories, and also entrusting the children in the city with the unforgettable memories of the countryside.

Yuan Mei, a poet and gourmet in Qing Dynasty, once praised Jiangxi Anfu Ham, saying that it's delicious and fresh. Anfu ham is thin and tender, fine and fat, and white fat is like marbling, swimming between fiery red muscles.

Selenium is an important feature of Xuanen ham, because Enshi Prefecture is rich in selenium resources and has the only independent selenium deposit in the world. Ham made by combining Tujia Miao village curing technology has unique characteristics of Xuan En.

The bamboo shoots dug out of the bamboo forest in the morning are poured into well water and slowly stewed with ham, which are soft but not rotten, dense and sweet. The fat and the suppressed meat flavor of ham that have been hidden in snow for a long time can only be awakened after repeated stewing. The mellow fragrance that has been sealed and fermented for a long time and the freshness of the land are naturally condensed into a pot of stew, and the wild interest in the twelfth lunar month and the warmth of hometown are all here.

4. Northern Division: Loneliness of Ham in Longxi

Liang Shiqiu once wrote that in the past, northerners didn't know how to eat ham, and they didn't know how to handle it well, because they thought it had a stale, greasy and astringent taste. Because the northern winter is cold, food can naturally freeze and keep fresh, so there is no need to marinate to maintain the shelf life of food.

Gansu Longxi ham is a natural product in the north. Its main raw material is "Potentilla anserina pig", because it often eats wild herbs such as Potentilla anserina, Codonopsis pilosula, Angelica sinensis, Astragalus membranaceus, etc., the meat is tender and the taste is fragrant. When curing ham, the "snowflake salt" produced by Jingyuan Qiaocheng is often used, and various spices such as fennel and ginger peel are added to enhance the flavor.

The muscles of cooked Longxi ham are bright as rosy, but thin but not firewood; The fat is crystal clear, like agate. Cut it into thin slices, eat it with steamed bread and pot helmet, and keep the original flavor of ham.

Lanzhou Manji once praised Longxi Ham: "Longxi Ham has a unique flavor ... compared with Jinhua Ham and Yunnan Ham, it is not inferior. "There is only one player in the Northern Division, which is quite lonely.

that ham hangs in my memory, with a reddish luster and a long salty fragrance. After the sun and winter wind, microbial fermentation, fat oxidation and protein decomposition, the visible surface layer is gradually moldy, but the invisible meat is more red and mellow. This is the real fresh meat that can stand the test of time.

References: 1. Dare to be careless, Map of Yunnan Ham, Green Banana, Red Flower, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2118.

2. Liang Shiqiu, Eating Ham, Talking about Eating by Yashe, Wanjuan Publishing Company, 2115.

3.CCTV Nongguang Tiandi, "Sanchuan Ham Making Skills", 2113.1.