舌尖上的美食 第26期:猪膘肉 Preserved Pig Carcass

Preserved Pig Carcass

猪膘肉

At the bank of Lugu Lake lived two brothers. After the division of the family estate, the older brother got a pig and a dog while the younger one got a sum of money. Similar to the younger brother in the story “The Prodigal Son” from Bible, the younger one squandered his wealth in wild living. The older one, on the contrary, was so assiduous that he could make a living under whatever r finding a new residence, the older brother plunged into work. He fed the pig and the dog every day, providing the best care he could offer. Because of his circumspection, the pig soon became lardy and fleshy, waiting to be slaughtered. Normally, the older brother would worship the Bodhisattva when winter approached and then started to slaughter the pig. Unzipping the pork belly, he took out the intestines and viscera, plus removed the lean meat and bones, and then seasoned the carcass with salt, pepper, garlic and ginger. Next he sewed the belly, putting it on the cabinet after airing. Finally he stuffed the large intestine with oats and the small one with buckwheat, hanging them along with viscera. Owning the preserved pig carcass, fairly speaking, he barely needed anything else. He could take the lard and the meat from it and easily made a simple but luscious dish, which was special in the eye of Mosuo ng the Spring Festival, according to the tradition of Mosuo People, the head of the pig was served to the Bodhisattva as deference the meat around the pig’s neck was provided to parents as filial love.

猪膘肉是泸沽湖畔摩梭人家非常有特色的一种佳肴。相传有一家摩梭人有两兄弟，父母把老大分了出去，老大分到一头猪和一条狗，分家后老大很勤劳，家里搞得像模像样，猪也喂得又大又肥，冬大的时候他先把菩萨敬了，就开始杀猪。他先把猪肚割开，把肠和内脏拉出，把里面的瘦肉和骨也剔除。然后缝上猪肚晾干后搁在神柜上。猪的大肠装上燕麦，小肠装荞麦，肚肠心肝肺都挂在家里，没油的时候，他就从膘猪的肚里取了猪油来用；没肉的时候就从猪膘身上割一块来吃。到了年三十的时候就开猪膘肉，初二猪头项圈敬菩萨，取项身肉一圈孝敬父母，过年的时候就要吃几天的猪膘肉。