§ 62. Bean Sauce Sausage (_Laap Ch’eung_ 腊腸).
Sausage is a very popular meat with the Chinese, especially during the
winter season. It is probably the most widely used of all cured meats,
although as a rule it is quite expensive compared with other meats.
§ 63. Pickle for Bean Sauce Sausage
For every catty of meat, use:
Saltpeter (_siu_ 硝) 1 mace[2] (_ts’in_ 一錢)
Salt (_shuk im_ 熟鹽) 3 mace (_ts’in_ 三錢)
Sugar (_ping fa t’ong_ 冰花糖) 2 mace (_ts’in_ 二錢)
First-drawn bean sauce (_t’au ch’au yau_ 頭抽油) 2 mace
Raw bean sauce (_shang ch’au yau_ 生抽油) 1 mace
Mixture of spices (_ng heung fan_ 五香粉) 1 mace
The mixture of spices is made up of the following:
Red pepper (_ch’un tsiu_ 春椒) 10 mace
Ground anise seed (_taai wui_ 大回) 10 mace
Cloves (_ting heung_ 丁香) 10 mace
Cinnamon (_yuk kwai_ 玉桂) 10 mace
These spices should be purchased separately and never ready mixed, as
ready made mixtures are often worthless.
Sometimes two orange peelings, finely cut or ground, fresh or dried
are used for every ten catties of meat. Two mace of double distilled
wine (_sheung ching tsau_ 雙蒸酒), or treble distilled wine (_saam ching
tsau_ 三蒸酒), and a wine called (_fan tsau_ 汾酒), are sometimes added
for each catty of meat. The wine helps preserve the meat.
The above spices should be carefully mixed and the mixture thoroughly
stirred into the meat. In mixing the spices the usual method is to use
the hands as mixers. A better way is to use a large spoon, or some
similar utensil.
§ 64. Preparation of the Meat for Sausage
Use hams, shoulders, chops, fat back, and neck. Sometimes the liver is
added to give a dark color. No belly meat or tough parts should be
used. Separate the lean from the fat meat. Chop into pieces about
one-quarter inch in diameter, or run through a sausage mill. One part
fat and one part lean meat is generally used, though the proportion
may vary either way, to suit the taste and demand.
§ 65. Sausage Casing (_Ch’eung I_ 腸衣)
Sausage casing is generally made from the middle coat of the small
intestines of sheep although it is also made from the intestines of
the hog. The casing is very thin and transparent. Some casing is
prepared in Canton, but most of what is used in Canton comes from
Shanghai, as there are comparatively few sheep or goats slaughtered in
Canton. The dried casing sells for $3.00 to $6.00 a catty.
§ 66. Softening the Casing
When ready to be used, the casing should be immersed in luke warm
water for a few minutes to soften it. If the walls of the casing
adhere to each other so that it is difficult for the meat to enter,
water should be forced through to distend the casing.
§ 67. Filling the Casing
Insert the small end of the filler (a tin funnel about six inches
long) into the end of the casing. Hold the casing tightly to the
filler with the left hand, and with the right hand force the meat
through the filler into the casing. It is customary to use the hand
for this, but a large wooden spoon would work just as well.
A sausage stuffing machine can be purchased for a few dollars, and
will do the work of stuffing in a much more satisfactory manner than
it can be done by hand. The end of the casing is tied around a tube at
the bottom of a jar containing the sausage meat. A disc the size and
shape of the inside of the jar is then pressed down on the meat with a
lever, and the meat is thus forced into the casing. Such a machine
will do the work of five or six men, and if of the right type, can
also be used as a lard press. If it is difficult to force the meat
into the casing, on account of compressed air, the air should be
allowed to escape by punching small holes in the casing with pins. The
stuffed casing is usually tied with a string every six inches, cut
into convenient lengths, and hung up to dry.
§ 68. Sunning and Drying
The sausage should be prepared in the morning, so that it can be hung
up to sun by noon. If it is prepared in the afternoon, there is some
danger of its spoiling, especially if the day is not very cold,
because it has to be stored over night before it gets much sun.
Sunshine and cold north wind are needed to make the best sausage. With
five days of wind and sun, the meat becomes hard and firm. In case of
rainy or damp weather while the sausage is being dried, it must be
hung up in a small room and a small charcoal or wood fire kept burning
underneath. If the sausage is not well sunned or dried, it is very
likely to spoil, and an effort should be made to get it pretty well
dried within five days.
§ 69. Season and Weather for Making Sausage
The time for making sausage is when there is a dry, cold wind blowing
from the north. Such weather usually does not occur before the middle
of November. From this time to the middle of January is usually the
best season. If made earlier, the weather will not be cool enough. If
made later, the chances for sunny weather are lessened, and the meat
is not apt to cure so well.
§ 70. Lean Pork Sausage (_Shau Yuk Ch’eung_ 瘦肉腸)
This sausage is made the same as ordinary sausage, except that only
lean meat is used.
§ 71. Liver Sausage (_Yun Ch’eung_ 潤腸)
In this sausage, duck liver is used instead of lean meat. Otherwise,
it is made the same as ordinary sausage.
§ 72. _Tung Koon_ Sausage (_Tung Koon Laap Ch’eung_ 東莞腊腸)
This is the same as ordinary bean sauce sausage, except that large
casings are used. It is not very popular because of its size.
§ 73. Oyster Sauce Sausage (_Ho Yau Ch’eung_ 蠔油腸)
This is made in the same manner as ordinary sausage, except that
oyster sauce (_ho yau_ 蠔油) is used instead of bean sauce in making up
the pickle.
§ 74. Catsup Sausage
Catsup sausage is the same as ordinary sausage, except that for every
catty of meat, three taels of catsup instead of bean sauce are used.
§ 75. Roast or Baked Sausage (_Foh Ch’eung_ 火腸)
Prepare ordinary sausage, but use large casings. Dip in honey
solution, and bake or roast.
§ 76. Cured Ham
An excellent cured ham is produced in Yunnan Province. This is due to
the fact that the hogs in that region are largely of the bacon type,
and the climate is very favorable for curing meat, being dry and
fairly cool during the meat curing season.
In curing ham, the Chinese use much the same method as is used in
western countries in making dry cured ham, except that sugar is not
used in the pickle. The pickle is made up as follows: Salt (_shuk im_
熟鹽) 20 catties (_kan_ 卄斤), Saltpeter (_siu_ 硝) .05 tael (半錢),
mixture of spices (_ng heung fan_ 五香粉) 2 taels (_leung_ 二両).
Rub each piece of meat for one-half hour. Puncture the meat with
needles so the pickle will work in well. Rub again in two days. For
the two days after the first rubbing with the pickle, keep under
pressure to squeeze out the water. After the second two days, rub
again with the pickle. Rub again after two more days. Then the meat is
packed in salt for fifteen days, when it is taken out and the salt
wiped off and the meat is allowed to dry and harden. Curing should
require forty days. The flavor improves with age.
§ 77. Sun Dried Pork (_Shau Laap Yuk_ 瘦𦡳肉)
Sun drying is a common method of curing pork in the Canton
region. For this purpose, head, side, ham, and shoulder meat is
used. The meat is cut in strips, about eight to ten inches long, and
about one inch thick. It is immersed over night in a pickle which
is the same as the one used in making sausage, and the next day
rubbed with a mixture of honey and water (_mat t’ong shui_ 蜜糖水),
made up of one part honey and one part water, and hung up to dry
in the sun for two days. Again it is soaked in the pickle for a short
time, and dried in the sun for two days. This is done a third time.
Then it is put in a stone jar in a cool, dry place for two days, and
again hung up to dry for one week, when it is cured. When cured,
the fat meat is rather firm.
Pork can be sun dried in the Canton region between the first of
November and the middle of January. Dry, north wind is best for
curing. If cured later than January, it must be consumed immediately
as it will not keep long.
§ 78. Pickled Pig Feet (_Ch’aat T’ai_ 札蹄)
In making pickled pig feet, the bone is first removed from the leg,
leaving only the meat, skin and toes. Boil, and stuff with roast fat
and lean meat to take the place of the bone. Tie up with rice straw,
and immerse in the sausage spice for several hours.
§ 79. Pickled Beef
Cut the beef into pieces weighing about four or five taels. Rub each
piece thoroughly with salt. Place the meat in a jar and cover with
salt. In one or two weeks, the meat is cured and ready to use. Soak in
water for one-half hour before using in order to remove part of the
salt.
§ 80. Dried Rice Bird (_Laap Woh Fa Tseuk_ 腊禾花雀)
Remove the feathers, internal organs, and brain. Then treat same as in
making sun dried pork.
§ 81. Pork Stuffed Liver (_Kam Ngan Yun_ 金銀潤)
Use the liver of hogs. Cut into strips about one inch wide. Use wine
and ginger for flavoring. Half dry it in the wind. It should not be
overdried, as it will then be hard to digest. Prepare fat meat by
cutting strips of it into such sizes that they can be inserted into
the liver. Soak the fat meat in a solution of salt, saltpeter, and
sugar, in proportions of 3-2-1. Finally, half dry the fat by hanging
in the sun for several hours. With a wooden stick, make pockets in the
strips of liver from one end to the other, and insert the strips of
fat meat into the pockets. The strips of stuffed liver should then be
hung up to dry for a half day.
§ 82. Lo Mei (_Lo Mei_ 鹵味)
The tongue, bladder, intestine, and liver, are used in making _lo mei_
although any part of the carcass may be used. It is made by cooking
the meat for ten minutes and then plunging it while still hot into
cold water, cooking for ten minutes again, and then plunging into cold
water. The process should be repeated at least twelve times. The
expansion and contraction of the meat by such handling makes it very
tender, and firm. The process of preparing this meat is called
“crossing the river.”
The boiled meat should be put into a strong solution of spices
prepared before hand, which is the same as the mixture of spices used
for making the pickle for sausages. After remaining in the solution of
spices over night, the meat is ready to be eaten.
§ 83. Roast Meat (_Shiu Yuk_ 燒肉)
Poultry, or pigs weighing up to one hundred catties, frequently are
roasted. Two methods are used. Poultry and small pigs may be roasted
in pans in an ordinary oven. The other method, which is the one
commonly used, is to roast in a special oven. The latter method
requires more skill than roasting in the ordinary oven. The oven is in
the form of a cylinder stood on end, thirty to forty inches in
diameter, and five or six feet high. The poultry or pig is hung on
iron bars across the top of the stove, and the stove or oven is then
covered with an iron lid. Fire is built at the bottom of the cylinder
through an opening at one side. Dry hard wood or charcoal, which
give but little smoke, are generally used for fuel. The meat being
roasted needs constant attention and shifting so that it will roast
through uniformly. It is said that when the meat gives off a white
smoke, it is an indication that it is done. A solution made up of one
part honey and one part water is rubbed on the meat, both inside and
outside the carcass, before the roasting. This honey solution gives
the outside of the meat a desirable rich reddish brown color when
roasted.
§ 84. Dried Duck (_Laap Aap_ 腊鴨)
For one dressed bird, use five taels of salt, which should be well
rubbed into the meat. Then pack in salt for one day. Take up, wash off
the salt, and put between two bamboo mats. Apply pressure for a few
days, and hang up to dry.
The Canton climate is not very favorable for drying duck, as during
the meat curing season it frequently rains. If the meat does not dry
fairly rapidly, it is likely to spoil. In Naam On, Kwong Sai province,
where it is generally dry during the curing season, the ducks are
packed away after two days exposure to the sun. In Canton, it often
takes two weeks. Ducks’ heads, kidneys, feet and other parts of the
bird are also cured in the same way.
§ 85. Puffed Pig Skin (_Chue P’ei_ 豬皮)
In making puffed pig skin, the pig skin is first cooked, and then
thoroughly scraped with a knife in order to remove the oil and fat. It
is then hung up in the sun to dry for about ten days. When it is ready
for the puffing or blistering process, which is accomplished by
roasting the dried skin in hot gravel in a shallow pan over a slow
fire This process whitens and puffs, or blisters, the skin.
The puffed pig skin is cut into small cubes and used in soups. It has
a spongy appearance with very little taste.
The skin on the hams, shoulders, and sides will puff the best, while
the skin on the back, legs, and belly will not puff well on roasting
in the hot gravel, but can be puffed by roasting in peanut oil.
On account of dampness and cloudy weather which interfere with proper
drying, puffed pig skin is best made during the dry, sunny winter
months. The product is on sale, however, throughout the year, as it
keeps well if hung in a fairly dry, airy place. It is commonly seen
hanging in the front of meat shops in Canton.
[1] For further details on smoking, see sections 55 to 61.
[2] Note: 1 mace = 1⁄100 ounce; 16 ounces = 1 catty.
AGRICULTURAL PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
CANTON CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
The following agricultural bulletins and publications may be obtained
at the price indicated from College Bookstore, Canton Christian
College, Cantor, China.
Bulletin No. 5. Groff, G. W., Agricultural Reciprocity between America
and China. Illustrated. 40 pp. $0.20.
Bulletin No. 12. Groff, G. W., The Papaya for South China.
Illustrated. 8 illustrations, 7 pp. $0.10.
Chinese edition under title 木瓜. 8 pp. $0.10.
Bulletin No. 18. Levine, C. O., and Cadbury, W. W., A Study of Milk
Produced in Kwangtung. 9 pp. $0.10.
Bulletin No. 20. The 1917–18 Journal of the Lingnaam Agricultural
Society (in Chinese). Illustrated. 150 pp. $0.20.
Bulletin No. 23. Levine, C. O., Notes on Farm Animals and Animal
Industries in China. Illustrated. 8 illustrations, 54 pp. $0.40.
Bulletin No. 25. Graybill, H. B., Lawn Grasses for South China. 6
illustrations, 6 pp. $0.20.
Bulletin No. 27. Levine, C. O., Butchering and Curing Meats in China.
Illustrated. 7 illustrations, 41 pp. $0.20.
Groff, G. W., The Lychee and Lungnan. Canton, 1920. 60 illustrations,
149 pp. Cloth bound. $2.20.
CANTON CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
CANTON, CHINA