Huotui Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
In 1923 it participated in the Guangzhou Famous and Special Food Fair and won a quality medal. In the 1980s it won awards again, and in the 1990s achieved specialized, large-scale, and serialized production.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xuanwei ham is named for being produced in Xuanwei County, and has long been famed at home and abroad, sharing the reputation with Zhejiang Jinhua ham for its uniquely distinctive flavor. Its main characteristics are: shaped like a pipa (lute), large in body and small in bone, thin-skinned and thick-fleshed, with moderate fat and lean; cut open at the cross-section, it has a rich aroma and bright color, the lean meat a bright red or rose color, the fat a milky white, and the bone slightly peach-red, as if the blood still moistens it. Its quality is excellent, enough to represent Yunnan ham, and it is thus often called "Yun ham." Xuanwei ham arose no later than the late Ming dynasty, and became famous in the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty (1727). Xuanwei ham's enduring fame mainly depends on its beautiful color, aroma, and taste, its rich nutrition, and its unique flavor. The Xuanwei County Gazetteer Draft records: "Xuanwei ham is famous under heaven—it is the doing of climate." Other regions neighboring Xuanwei, using the same pig breed, the same feeding method, and the same curing craft as Xuanwei, produce ham whose taste is far inferior to Xuanwei ham. The secret of Xuanwei ham's rich meaty fragrance and pure, beautiful mouthfeel lies in Xuanwei's unique natural environment, climatic conditions, and production craft. The line of Xuanwei ham emerges in the airing and ripening after curing. This entire stage depends on Xuanwei's climate: not much sun yet distinct dry and wet, with a long, gentle wind—it is precisely this weather, neither scorched by the sun nor prolonged dampness, that slowly holds the moisture in the meat and presses the aroma layer by layer into the muscle texture. This is why neighboring places using the same pig breed, the same feeding, and the same curing craft produce a taste far apart—the difference is not in the method, but in wind and sun. Its appearance also has a fixed form: shaped like a pipa, large in body and small in bone, thin-skinned and thick-fleshed, with moderate fat and lean; cut open at the cross-section, it has a rich aroma and bright color, the lean meat a bright red or rose color, the fat a milky white, and the bone slightly peach-red. Peach-red is the best proof of a ham's quality, and the hardest to imitate.
Selecting the leg in the shape of a pipa
The leg is chosen for its pipa-like shape, with a large bone, thin skin and a balanced ratio of fat to lean.
Judging the cut surface
A good cut shows red or rose lean meat, milky fat and a faintly pink bone, the last being the hardest sign to imitate.
Flavour made by the land
Neighbouring regions using the same pigs, feeding and salting produce a very different ham: the recipe can be copied, the climate cannot.
The county gazetteer's verdict
The local gazetteer attributes the ham's fame to the climate, tying its taste to Xuanwei's weather.
From 1727 to industrial production
From its late-Ming origin and fame in 1727 to medals in 1923 and the 1980s and standardised mass production in the 1990s.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The formation of Xuanwei ham also depends on Xuanwei's unique regional, geographic, and climatic environment. Xuanwei ham is named alongside Zhejiang Jinhua ham, and within Yunnan it is called "Yun ham." After becoming famous in the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty (1727), the reputation of Xuanwei ham spread far along the horse-caravan and trade routes from Yunnan to the inland provinces, and merchants from outside the province mostly took pride in obtaining a ham. Since modern times, Xuanwei's ham enterprises and sales networks have again taken it out of Yunnan; its participation in the Guangzhou Famous and Special Food Fair in 1923, its winning awards again in the 1980s, and its achievement of specialized, large-scale, serialized production in the 1990s are all traces of this outward spread. Neighboring regions, using the same pig breed, feeding, and curing craft, produce a finished product far apart in taste—this very contrast best explains Xuanwei's uniqueness: move Xuanwei's craft bodily to another place, and once the local conditions change, the flavor differs, so the ham is universally recognized as a typical "product of terroir."
Other submitting regions for the same item: Huotui Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Xuanwei County Gazetteer Draft records: "Xuanwei ham is famous under heaven—it is the doing of climate." These eight characters attribute the ham's origin to climate, and are the key to understanding Xuanwei ham, as well as its greatest divergence from ordinary cured meat—the same formula can be replicated, but what cannot be replicated is that wind, that sun, and that altitude. Its achievements also have contemporary proof: in 1923 it participated in the Guangzhou Famous and Special Food Fair and won a quality medal, in the 1980s it won awards again, and in the 1990s it achieved specialized, large-scale, serialized production—a craft that rose from the late Ming thus entered the track of modern food industry.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yu Liangkun 03-1428
- Guan Shengkuo 05-2861
- Chen Shuntong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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