Yuanling County produces "sun-dried meat", which has something to do with its geographical environment. Yuanling was called Chenzhou in ancient times, and was described in the famous writer Shen Congwen's "Border Town", "Xiangxi" and "Hunan-Travelling Essays". There are two major rivers in the county, one is the Yuanjiang River and the other is the Youshui River. Historically, Yuanling was the main road with many docks and famous towns for the circulation of materials and transportation of tourists in western Hunan.
Yuanling men depend on the Yuan River, mostly making a living through transporting woods and bamboos through waterways. They are usually been away from their home for more than ten days for their work and cannot return in a half months. These men who come and go in the waves are not only in danger of their lives, but also have a very hard life. Their women always want them to go out with some meat, but their living environment is wet and the meat can't last a day in hot weather.
A clever boatman's wife happens to have a good idea. She cuts the lean meat into slices, marinates it with salt and rice wine, hanging it with a bamboo basket on the edge of the boat and drying it until it gradually turns bronzed. When the boatmen leave home for transporting goods, their women hand over the baskets full of meat to them and keep telling them to sun the baskets.
In order to reassure their wife, the men hangs the basket on the bow, which can not only dry the meat strips, but also remind them of their wives, not being lured by other women at their destination. With the meat becoming less and less, men put more and more thoughts in the basket, finally leaving full baskets of thoughts before going home.
After more than 2000 years of precipitation, "sun-dried meat" is now a necessary delicacy on the dinner table of Yuanling people. Today, perhaps Yuanling men no longer need to work in the storm, and women do not need to use a basket of delicacies to show their loving and caring for their beloved ones, but the sun-dried method of cooking have been handed down from generation to generation.
However, this complex craftsmanship that has lasted for more than 2000 years may end in the memories of the older generation of women. The girls who grow up in a favorable environment almost forget how the story of the sun-dried cooking begin. We are lucky enough to hear this touching story with the most delicate part of human nature.
Yuanling sun-dried meat was firstly cooked in the Qing Dynasty. When Tian Fengdan, head of the town army of Xiangxi chieftain dynasty, came to Yuanling as the emissary of Xiangxi town, this unique delicacy of Yuanling was created. People took the thighs, pig backs and tenderloin of Xiangxi black pigs as raw materials, sliced the meat into slices and marinated them with secret seasoning. After pickling, the meat was spread out in a bamboo basket and exposed to the ventilated outdoor sun, or baked and dried with a high temperature of about 65 degrees Celsius. Stewed meat could stand upright without bending, showing reddish brown, glittering and translucent, delicious and attractive. With its long shelf life, easy storage, attractive color and fragrance, convenient to eat, the meat is often used as a home delicacy, given as a gift to relatives and friends or people traveling far away.
The woman in Yuanling often makes this dishes for her husband who travel far away from home. She hopes her husband can eat the same delicious food as at home. Every time her husband eats sun-dried meat, he will think of his affectionate wife and the warmth of home. Hence, it is a "husband and wife dish" that reflects the deep love between the couple. It is also a tribute to royal court with a history of more than a hundred years.
Sun-dried meat can be cooked in a variety of ways, such as fried, steamed, fried and processed with personal hobbies and with different seasonings. It can also be made into five-spice sun-dried meat, sweet and sour sun-dried meat, spicy sun-dried meat, multi-flavor sun-dried meat and other snack foods. These raw and cooked meat, regardless of home or hotel banquets, are suitable for eating and convenient for cooking. When it comes to the cooking, people generally cut the meat into thin strips or carve it into leaves or orchids, and put them into chili stewed pot (cooked sun-dried meat may be not stewed). Then the meat tastes crisp, fragrant, sweet, salty and spicy. One couldn’t help feeling full of taste. The nutritional value of the meat is particularly excellent. According to experts’ research, sun-dried meat is not only rich in phosphorus, potassium, sodium, but also contains protein, vitamin A, D and other soluble vitamins and elements.
（Translated by Li Bingting）