Libo Sour-Cured Meat 荔波酸肉

How it is made

The Libo County government sets out the Lianshanwan method in four steps. The cook needs a small jar, meat, millet or rice, salt, ginger and Sichuan pepper. The meat is cut into thin slices and mixed well with salt, ginger and Sichuan pepper. Millet or rice, two to three liang (100 to 150 grams) for every jin (500 grams) of meat, is soaked in water and then dry-toasted in a wok until cooked.

The jar is washed, and a few pieces of glowing charcoal are put inside to dry it and then taken out. The seasoned meat goes in quickly and is pressed down tight, the lid is put on, and water is poured into the dish around the rim to seal it. After about three weeks the raw meat has cured into ready-to-eat meat, taken straight from the jar. Pork, beef and chicken are all cured this way.

Flavour and texture

The county describes the meat as sour-sweet and refreshing. It keeps its colour so well that it looks like freshly slaughtered meat: the fat is milky white and the lean dark red. It can be eaten straight from the jar, and the county says a sprinkle of dried chilli powder makes it better still.

Sour-cured meat is a favourite in summer. The county describes people ending a day's work with a bowl at dinner, eaten slowly, with a clean sour taste.

Where it comes from

In Lianshanwan the dish is served at festivals and to honoured guests, and every household keeps a jar and a curing method handed down in the family. A Libo County tourism page presents curing fresh meat sour as Libo's own way with meat. The same Lianshanwan households also cure vegetables sour, among them greens and wild onions, and the county says the sour meat has become popular with visitors as rural tourism has grown.