Village-Cured Smoked Pork 乡里腊肉
Village-Cured Smoked Pork is featured among the local specialties of Hunan.
Village-Cured Smoked Pork (乡里腊肉) in Xiangtan (湘潭) is salted, dried and slowly smoked. Rednet’s Xiangtan County reporting describes cooked slices with a translucent shine and a yellow-red colour, rich fat and lean meat that does not catch between the teeth.
Curing and drying
In the preparation demonstrated by Rednet (红网) in January 2015, fresh pork is first heated in an iron pan, then rubbed evenly with salt. It cures for about a week before being dried until the skin turns dark red; the winter sun-drying stage takes roughly three days.
The pork hangs inside a large drum above a low, smoky fire, or over a wood-burning stove. Straw starts the fire, followed by pine and cypress sawdust, dried orange peel, peanut shells, tree seed balls, rice husks and a little dried chilli. Smoking takes three to five days in this method.
Cooked and sliced
The finished pork is boiled and cut into slices for eating.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- A common version of Village-Cured Smoked Pork · 乡里腊肉常见做法参考照片。Photo: sharon1987720 · CC0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited.
