Ha Giang dried buffalo meat specialty

The specialty of dried buffalo meat in Ha Giang, Vietnam, is the food of the indigenous people in the mountainous region in the past. For a long time, due to the farming conditions, agricultural production is far away. Some families go to the forest for a long time to return, such as to the cardamom forest, to hunt... People often have to go to work from very early in the morning until late at night. Therefore, they have come up with a way to process ready-to-eat food to serve daily meals in the fastest way.

1. A few words about dried buffalo meat

It can be understood that in essence, making dried buffalo meat is a last resort. In the past, the locals did not have refrigerators to preserve it, so they had to dry it to eat gradually.

Dried buffalo meat is one of those instant foods. And up to now, it has become a famous specialty of Ha Giang dried buffalo meat in the country. Previously, the most typical dried buffalo meat processing area was the districts of the Stone Plateau. Up to now, through the taste of culinary experts, dried buffalo meat can be processed, treated and made into products in many localities. Each place has its own characteristics and flavors.

2. How to make dried buffalo meat

If in the past, making dried buffalo meat was very simple by marinating it roughly, skewering each piece, and placing it on a wood stove. Nowadays, making dried buffalo meat requires much more effort. Especially when it has been introduced and become a specialty, a famous food. Many people have known, cared about and chosen to use this dish.

If you want delicious and quality dried buffalo meat, you must pay great attention to choosing the ingredients right from the start. The ingredients and the processing method determine the quality. And the basic steps are as follows:

- Choose fresh buffalo meat:

Choose 100% fresh buffalo meat from healthy buffalo. It is fresh buffalo loin and thigh meat without tendons or fat membrane.
A healthy buffalo is one that is raised naturally, eating grass and soft tree trunks. Buffalo living in mountainous areas are often firmer, sweeter and more nutritious than buffalo living in lowland areas.

If you do not slaughter the buffalo yourself but have to buy it from the market, the person who chooses to buy the meat must have experience. They must even know how to distinguish and detect live buffalo meat or buffalo meat that has died from disease.

Because, recently, due to the erratic weather, foot and mouth disease has appeared. This disease occurs in livestock, including buffalo and cows.

- Pre-processing and handling:

+ Prepare the meat. If there is any fat or tendons still stuck to the meat, remove them completely.

+ Slice the buffalo meat along the grain. The most suitable pieces are about 20 cm long and 5 cm thick. The meat should be pounded to soften.

- Marinate, season: The spices used to marinate the meat must also be carefully selected and prepared.

+ Chili, mac khen, and doi must be roasted until fragrant, then put in a mortar and pounded with other spices in a certain ratio.

+ Mix those spices with garlic, ginger, lemongrass, salt, sugar into a slightly thick spice mixture to marinate with buffalo meat.

+ Depending on taste and habits, use spices. But basically, it is still just the typical spices of the mountainous region, which are mac khen seeds and doi seeds.

- Drying: The final step is to hang the meat on a specialized wood stove. The stove is continuously pushed with firewood until the meat is completely dry. Along with the firewood, fresh sugarcane is also burned. Only then will the dried buffalo meat be fragrant and of the best quality.

3. How to identify buffalo meat

In fact, there are many products similar to dried buffalo meat. Pork and beef can also be made into dried buffalo meat by marinating with spices. It is sold on the market at the price of dried buffalo meat. We have the following basic ways to identify it:

- Distinguish right from the raw meat: Fresh buffalo meat from a healthy buffalo is pink or dark red. Buffalo fat is clear white, different from beef fat which is yellowish white. In particular, buffalo meat fibers are slightly coarser and larger than beef and have a slightly fishy smell. Buffalo muscle usually does not have fat.

- Distinguish when processing: Observe when processing, cut across the meat grain, you will see that the buffalo muscle fibers are large, rough, not smooth and soft like other meats.

- Distinguish between cooking and eating: There is a folk saying “Buffalo shrinks, cow expands” full of experience for everyone to remember for reference. Its meaning is that when boiled, especially when stir-fried, buffalo meat will shrink, while beef will expand. The taste of buffalo meat will be sweet and rich.

If you take the time to learn and have your own way of remembering, it will help you to quickly distinguish dried buffalo meat from other products of the same name. However, there are many reasons why buffalo meat must be frozen or imported and transported from other places, so when processed, it will have a taste and color that is no different from beef. It is easy for dried buffalo meat to be faked as beef.

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