Every 2 o’clock at night, the family of Mr. Luong (ancient village of Duong Lam, Hanoi) gets up again to group the meat roasting oven, the 3 pieces of meat are only wrapped in bamboo rods and turned on charcoal for 4 hours.
The family “doesn’t sleep” all night burning firewood to make meat specialties
Duong Lam ancient village (Son Tay town, Hanoi) is famous for its peaceful old village image. This place not only retains the ancient architecture with village gate, banyan tree, water station, communal yard, but also intact the taste of rustic country dishes. In it, it is impossible not to mention the famous roast meat dish.
People in the village said that, it is said that King Ngo Quyen, after winning the Nam Han army on Bach Dang river, made the meat to turn the burden to the army. Up to now, roasted meat is still an indispensable dish in the rice tray of the people here, especially on the occasion of death anniversary or treat friends and visitors when visiting the village.
Roast meat requires elaborate and time-consuming steps, so there are only a few households in the village that maintain this profession.
Mr. Luong and his wife (Dong Sang village, Duong Lam commune) are one of the famous family of butcher, he inherited from his parents for more than ten years. In the past, he and his wife made bamboo vermicelli, but because he wanted to keep the specialties of his homeland, he turned to roast meat.
He does not mechanically apply all the steps of the passed-down tools, just keep the spices of the meat: “My way has changed a little through the lessons learned so that after the oven, the meat is roasted. There must be a crispy skin like banh da, while the inside of the meat is tender, “said Mr. Luong.
Only 3 pieces of meat are roasted here, every day, on average, his family roasts 70-80kg of raw meat, on Tet days it can be up to 3 kg of meat / 1 day, doing it by hand from 2:00 am to 7:00 pm. dark.
To have square meat, just lean and only fat alternating, Mrs. Huong (wife of Mr. Luong) has to go to the market from 2am to choose.
At home, Mr. Luong started a fire and burned firewood to get coal. Tens of tons of firewood are piled up in large piles next to the house, Mr. Luong said: “Coal costs are high, nearly 1 million VND / 1 quintal, but the firewood is only 30,000 VND / quintal. People store rice with money and houses. I have to store firewood all year round.
The meat is shaved off, then using a pestle with sharp points to prick the meat surface so that when marinated, it will evenly infuse the spices.
The way is somewhat elaborate, but the seasoning of this dish is very popular, including: guava leaves and pureed dried onions, mixed with five flavors, pepper and delicious fish sauce. In particular, we must choose wild guava leaves that grow in the field, thick and fragrant leaves, not use guava leaves grown in the garden to get fruit.
Witness the whole process to see all the sophistication and meticulousness of this dish. After the meat is marinated, will spread a layer of banana leaves on the surface to separate the bamboo rod and the meat, then roll it up so that the meat “embraces” the bamboo lever.
Since ancient times, the elders have wrapped meat in bamboo sticks to grill. The older the bamboo as possible, choose straight and light segments.
The meat blows are washed, the skin is white. The charcoal was already red, and the couple Mr. Luong arranged each meat blow on the oven and started to watch the fire without taking their eyes off.
Mr. Luong is the main fire watchman, because he has experience in knowing when to make the fire crisp and when to reduce the heat to cook the meat.
Although the night of Hanoi was cold, Mr. Luong and 3 workers were all sweaty because of having to be exposed to high temperatures, he shared: “This cold season is still comfortable, but in summer, sweat is soaked in clothes. “.
After about 15 minutes of roasting, the surface of the meat was dry, the craftsmen were busy taking each bar of meat out of the oven to use a sharp pestle, to help reduce the fat in the meat. Then, rinse the skin with lemon juice and diluted salt to make the meat clean and crispy.
At 7:30 am, when the flow of people going to the market is getting more and more crowded, it is also the time when the meat bars are turned, removing the meat from the lever and the jute. This stitch must be done by experienced people, because just a little bit of force, the crispy skin will break, peeling off the meat will be very difficult to sell.
The roast meat is sold at retail right in front of the house, only in the morning it is finished. Tourists who want to enjoy or buy as gifts must book in advance.
Ms. Huong said: “Recently, the roasted meat I made won the second prize in the culinary contest, celebrating the 15th anniversary of Duong Lam village being recognized as a National Architectural Monument”.
Recently, her family did not hesitate to teach a job to a person from Quang Binh, studying it seems easy, but in order to do this, it is necessary to persevere, not afraid to wake up early.
Dân trí