舌尖上的傳說(shuō)：云南美食故事3 琵琶肉 Lute-shaped Pork

琵琶肉

Lute-shaped Pork is a kind of traditionally pickled meat in Tibetan-inhabited Areas in the central plains of China. To make such pickled meat you should first remove the abdominal organs and bones from the slaughtered pig without damaging its body. After cooling off the meat, add pepper, caoguo, salt and Chinese liquor to the meat, and rub it to get the flavorings fully absorbed. Then sew up the meat and collect ashes from the kitchen stove and mix it with water or sesame oil, then apply the mixture to where the meat was sewed. After that, block the nose of the pig with a cork or a corncob to prevent moths. Finally, put a slate or a plank on the pig. And after it is dried its shape looks like a lute, which is the origin of its name.

琵琶肉為中甸藏區(qū)一種用傳統(tǒng)腌制方法制作而成的肉品。具體方法是豬屠宰后將其內(nèi)臟和骨頭取出，保留完整軀體。待其稍涼后，撒入花椒面、草果面、食鹽等佐料及白酒，輕輕搓揉后，將其開(kāi)口縫合，在縫線(xiàn)部涂敷上水或香油調(diào)好的灶灰，并用木塞或玉米芯把豬鼻塞嚴(yán)，以防蟲(chóng)蛀。然后用石板或木板壓上晾干，干后形似琵琶，故名“琵琶肉”。

According to Tibetan people in Di Qing area, the recipe of Lute-shaped pork was passed down from a god. However, the details of the story vary from area to area. Some people say that a beautiful and benevolent fairy once comes to the earthly world. To reward the uprightness and honesty of Tibetan people in Di Qing, she teaches them to till the earth and raise animals as well as the one-in-a-kind recipe of the Lute-shaped Pork. Others tell a different story: Once upon a time, there was an old hunter who was seasoned and skilled in shooting arrows. So whenever he hunts in the mountains he would bring home prey. He deems his good luck is endowed by god, so he always worships the god of mountain and the god of hunting. However, the preservation of the prey is an urgent problem needed to be solved. One night he dreams of a god teaching him the way of preserving his prey. When he wakes up he works accordingly and makes the lute-shaped pork which can be easily preserved.

對(duì)迪慶藏族人家說(shuō)，琵琶肉的腌制方法是神仙教的，不過(guò)具體情節(jié)各地不一。有的地方的人們說(shuō)，一位美麗善良的仙女來(lái)到人間，她十分喜歡迪慶藏族人家的善良忠厚，便在教會(huì)人們耕地養(yǎng)畜之后，把一手腌制肉食的絕活也傳給了大家。而另一些地方的人們則說(shuō)，從前有一位老獵手，經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富又射得一手好箭，因此只要上山，就絕不會(huì)空手而歸。他覺(jué)得自己的好運(yùn)氣都是神仙給的，所以總忘不了祭獻(xiàn)山神、獵神。老獵人常常遇到這樣的難題，一次打到的獵物太多，吃不完，放了幾天就壞了。一天晚上，他在睡夢(mèng)中得到神仙的指點(diǎn)，醒來(lái)后依法腌制，就做成了可存放很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的琵琶肉。