Wuzhishan Small Yellow Cattle Beef 五指山小黄牛

Wuzhishan Small Yellow Cattle Beef (五指山小黄牛) is beef from Hainan's small native yellow cattle as raised and cooked around Wuzhishan (五指山) in the central mountains of the island. The cattle graze free on the hills all year, eating leaves and wild grass, and locals call them 'the cattle that never come home' (不回家的牛), a name that also appears on farm-restaurant menus in Shuiman Township (水满乡).

Ingredients

The breed is Hainan yellow cattle (海南黄牛), also called Gaofeng yellow cattle (高峰黄牛) or Leiqiong cattle (雷琼牛), and it is listed in China's catalogue of protected livestock and poultry breeds. Hainan Daily describes the animals as small, wild-natured, and tolerant of heat, drought and disease. In the Li and Miao areas of central Hainan, farmers leave the cattle on open slopes above 700 metres all year, where they live on leaves. Only about once a week, or even once a month, does the owner climb up, call the lead animal in the way particular to his household, and lead the herd to a fixed spot to eat salt.

Flavour and texture

The head of the Wuzhishan Cooking Association describes the cooked meat as golden-brown and glossy, supple yet crisp, and not cloying even in quantity, very close to venison in texture. In the central mountains many people call pure-bred local beef 'venison'. Because the grazing cattle eat medicinal herbs along with the leaves, people regard the meat as especially nourishing.

How it is eaten

Wuzhishan residents mostly eat the beef as hotpot (打边炉), cooking it at the table. Wuzhishan beef jerky is made from the loin of these cattle: farmers cure it with herbs or seasonings and air-dry it, giving a jerky that is fragrant, crisp and chewy.