Hunan smoked and cured meats (la rou / la wei)

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Hunan province has a curing and smoking tradition as rich as any European charcuterie. La rou (cured and smoked pork belly), la chang (cured sausage), and la ya (smoked duck) are prepared in winter, hung over smoky fires of camphor wood, tea, and rice straw, and eaten throughout the year. The smoking happens in farmhouse kitchens above open hearths — the meat hangs in the rafters absorbing weeks of continuous gentle smoke. The result is intensely smoky, firm, and deeply savoury — different from Western bacon or European smoked products because the smoke exposure is longer and the wood species are different.

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