Chinese Cured Meat｜沒有臘味，怎麼叫過年？這是刻在中國人DNA裡的鄉愁

Cured meats are a deep-seated Chinese sentiment embodied in time and the warmth of home cooking, the most intense expression of the New Year's spirit.

They basked in the sun under the eaves for twenty days straight. Aired during the day and brought in at dusk, each sausage was heavy, its fat glistening. Pork belly, marinated in white wine and sauces, hung in rows on bamboo poles; fish bellies were stuffed with Sichuan peppercorns, now firm, revealing amber-colored veins beneath the salt frost when held up to the light. Each cured pork rib was coated with sauce. When slicing sausages, the casings snapped open crisply, revealing translucent fat and a dark reddish-brown lean meat; during stir-frying, the whole house was filled with a sweet aroma. Cured fish didn't need to be thoroughly cleaned; leaving the salt frost on it, it was used in a cured meat stew with other cured meats, offering a unique flavor with every bite.
Cured meats, refined by time, become even more delicious, making one fall in love with them at first bite.

#chinesefood #rurallife #cooking