TPO – Just before Tet, establishments producing buffalo and beef jerky in the mountainous district of Que Phong (Nghe An) are busy making meat to deliver to customers. Many establishments with a large number of customers have to work day and night to make it on time.
TPO – Just before Tet, establishments producing buffalo and beef jerky in the mountainous district of Que Phong (Nghe An) are busy making meat to deliver to customers. Many establishments with a large number of customers have to work day and night to make it on time.
Video of people in a mountainous district of Nghe An working day and night to make specialties to sell for Tet. |
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From the end of the 11th lunar month every year, establishments producing buffalo, beef, and pork jerky in Kim Son town (Que Phong district, Nghe An) are busy making products to deliver to customers on time. On average, each establishment here buys from 500 to 1000 kg of buffalo, beef, and pork meat every day to make this specialty dish. |
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Smoked buffalo and beef meat is also called giang, which comes from the way people in the highlands have preserved and stored meat for hundreds of years. In the past, because there were no refrigerators, people often dried fresh meat on the stove to preserve and use it for a long time. When people from the lowlands came to eat it and found it delicious and ordered it as a gift, this dish became an expensive specialty. |
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With a long tradition of making specialties of buffalo, beef, and pork jerky, Ms. Phan Thi Nga (41 years old, residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district) said that her establishment starts receiving orders to sell for Tet from the middle of the 11th lunar month every year. |
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To make finished buffalo, beef, and pork jerky requires a lot of effort, steps, and time. Therefore, Ms. Nga had to hire 3 seasonal workers to help. |
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Every day, Ms. Nga will order buffalo, beef, and pork from the local people. The meat chosen must be fresh and delicious. After purchasing, the meat is cleaned, the tendons and fat are removed, and then cut into hand-sized pieces, 25-30cm long. |
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To give the meat a distinctive flavor, people will marinate the meat for about 3 hours. Each family will have their own secret recipe for marinating spices to create a unique product. However, the indispensable spices for marinating are the seeds of the Sui tree and the seeds of the Mac Khen tree (wild pepper). |
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After all the preparation steps are completed, the meat is brought up to dry on a wood stove for many days. |
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“To cook the meat evenly without drying it out, the cook must watch the stove and turn the meat constantly. In particular, the fire must always be kept low and steady. If the fire is too high, the meat will burn and not be cooked,” Ms. Nga shared her experience. |
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After 2-3 days of drying, under the influence of heat from the charcoal stove, firewood... the pieces of meat gradually shrink, dry and cook. On average, 10kg of fresh meat will produce 3kg of finished smoked meat. "A batch of smoked meat is considered successful when when breaking the cooked meat, it is still bright pink. At that time, the meat is delicious, sweet but not dry. As for the sausage, the fatty meat has turned clear, chewy and rich, with a characteristic aroma," said Ms. Nga. |
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Besides buffalo and beef jerky, Chinese sausage is also a popular specialty during Tet. |
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If the buffalo and beef jerky is made entirely by hand, the sausage dish is supported by a meat stuffing machine. “Thanks to the machine, stuffing the meat is easier, more even and more beautiful. After finishing, the sausage is also dried on a wood stove like the buffalo and beef jerky,” said Ms. Phan Thi Quy (production facility in Kim Son town, Que Phong). |
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Currently, buffalo and beef jerky is sold for 1 - 1.1 million VND/kg, pork jerky is priced at 450,000 - 500,000 VND/kg, and Chinese sausage is priced at 300,000 - 350,000 VND/kg. |
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Although only made and sold during Tet, this specialty dish brings in hundreds of millions of dong in revenue for production facilities in Kim Son town (Que Phong district). “Every year, we only make it for a few months before Tet, so we are busy day and night without a break. Currently, the number of buffaloes, cows, and pigs that people raise in the village is decreasing, so finding raw materials is difficult. We have to hunt and pay in advance for people to have goods to make,” said Ms. Phan Thi Quy. |
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Nowadays, this specialty is not only sold in the province but also in many provinces in the North and South. To preserve it for a long time, the meat is packaged in plastic bags and put in the freezer. “From December 20, we will send the goods to customers in distant provinces. Customers in the province will only send them right before Tet. We will continue to receive orders from customers until the 28th of Tet,” said Ms. Phan Thi Nga. |
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