Rugao ham

Produced in Rugao, Jiangsu. Select local healthy thoroughbred pigs with thin skin and tender feet, with a gross weight of about 60 kg, wash fresh legs and trim them into bamboo leaves or pipa shapes according to their size. Strictly control the use of salt when curing, wash and sun in time after curing, and then keep it for fermentation. Preservation fermentation is the key process of ham with special quality, and the fermentation period is 5-6 months. The whole production cycle of ham is about 10 months. Generally, the best production time is when the frost falls to beginning of winter and the temperature is 2-100 C.. Thin skin and thin claws, shaped like bamboo leaves and pipa, thin and fat, bright red and white, unique flavor, good color, fragrance, taste and shape, which can be stored all year round and eaten in all seasons. Rugao ham is not only delicious, but also has the effect of nourishing the body and eliminating diseases. According to records, ham is beneficial to kidney, stomach, body fluid, intestine, bone marrow and foot strength. Rugao is a famous pig producing area in Jiangsu Province. The pig breed is called "Dongchuan Pig", which is a lean pig breed. Rugao's ham production began in the middle of Qing Dynasty and lasted for hundreds of years. In the 21st year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1895), the ham produced by Rugao Guangfeng Leg-making Stack (namely, Guangfeng Cured Leg-making Company) won the gold medal in Honolulu International Expo. In the second year of Xuantong (1910), Rugao Ham won the excellent honor award at the Nanyang Persuasion Meeting held in Jiangning (now Nanjing). At that time, Rugao Ham sold well at home and abroad, with branches in Shanghai and San Francisco, USA, and was called the three major leg-making centers in China with Zhejiang Jinhua and Yunnan Tanyue. At that time, people called it "northern leg" and "southern leg" with Zhejiang Jinhua Ham. Compared with Jinhua ham, Rugao ham is a little salty, more refined and less fat, and its meat quality is a little older than Jinhua ham. Rugao ham is characterized by thin skin and fine claws, beautiful shape (like pipa or bamboo leaves), bright color, delicious salty flavor and other unique styles, and is famous for its "four wonders" of color, fragrance, taste and shape. Ham has high nutritional value and is rich in protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron and other ingredients.
Reprinted with attribution： https://cnlocality.com/(Chinese Specialty Products)