Chaigou Fort bacon

Chaigou Fort is an ancient town outside Saiwai. Legend has it that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, a chef named Guo Xi opened a bacon shop here, which is well-known in the Area of Beijing Bao Line. The bacon skin he made was tender, consistent in appearance, bright in color, mellow in taste, fat and not greasy, thin and not stuffed, not only unique flavor, rich in nutrition, but also has appetizing, cold, digestion and other effects. This meat ball is smoked from dead wood, so mosquitoes and flies do not climb in summer, and they are stored for a week without deterioration, becoming a unique local flavor food. According to the "Chronicle of Huai'an County", "Chaigou Fort bacon is particularly good, well-known outside the province, and it is given to relatives and friends, and all praise them." It is said that when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing and Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled, they passed through Chaigou Fort for dinner and praised the bacon of Chaigou Fort. Since then, it has been awarded as a tribute by Cixi.

There are more than 10 varieties of bacon, including smoked pork belly, smoked pig's head, smoked pig's trotters, smoked ribs, and smoked water. To make Chaigou Fort bacon, first put the selected meat into the pot, pour in the old soup for many years, with a certain proportion of peppercorns, large ingredients, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, sand kernels, meat dumplings, garlic, green onions, fresh ginger, sauce tofu, sweet noodle sauce and other condiments and spices, cooked over appropriate heat, and then smoked with cypress. The freshly cooked bacon is purple-red, and the skin of the trembling and shiny flesh is bubbling with small oil bubbles; the skin is tender and fragrant, maintaining the characteristics of color, aroma and taste. In 1981 and 1982, it was rated as a high-quality product in Hebei Province for two consecutive years.

Source: Hebei Tourism Information Network