Quality counts when making lard in the kitchen
Print Edition
Lard is one thing people can’t easily run away from when living in Shanghai.
The rendered pig fat known in Chinese as zhuyou sounds heavy and greasy, but it’s found in so many iconic dishes and snacks in Jiangnan areas (south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River).
Lard goes into both savory and sweet dishes. People add it in the filling of steamed buns, in the scallion oil dressing for noodles and even in sweet, sticky cakes and glutinous rice balls.
In traditional Chinese pastry, lard is what provides the flakiness, like the shell of Suzhou-style mooncake.
In fact, lard is one of the things that gives soul to Jiangnan flavors, as people say using lard to cook a dish is half way to victory.
Chinese people have been using lard for thousands of years.
In the very beginning, before the creation of the character you, the oil made from cows or sheep was called zhi, while pork lard was called gao, according to “Kao Gong Ji,” the “Book of Diverse Crafts” on science and technology in ancient China that was compiled in the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC).
Ancient peoples cooked with animal fat for a very long time. In the Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC), people cooked meat and fried food with animal fat. The extraction of vegetable oil started much later in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220).
In an era of material shortages, lard was the main dietary fat Chinese people used. A few decades ago, people actually preferred fatty pork than lean pork because the excess fat could be used to render lard and make cooking oil at a low cost.
Chinese author Deng Xian once wrote in the article “The Story of a Bowl of Lard” that when he went to the countryside as an educated youth during the “cultural revolution” (1966-76), once he drank a bowl of lard that smelled so good, because there was no meat, eggs or other nutritious food.
Starting in the 1990s, increased supply in the market led to lard being replaced by vegetable oil. Today, lard is no longer the No. 1 everyday cooking oil in Chinese households.
Although lard and other animal fat is regarded as unhealthy in modern diet concepts, the occasional intake of lard in small quantity isn’t doing immediate harm to the body. Lard actually contains more unsaturated fat.
Cooking with lard
Chinese people don’t normally buy lard from the supermarket, but make their own with fresh pork fat.
Pork belly fat is more commonly used in everyday cooking because of its cheap price and high oil yield. The quality of the lard made from belly fat is sufficient to make stir-fries, but the higher-grade leaf lard made of the fat from the pork loin is much preferred in staple dishes like wonton and noodles.
Though, when making the black sesame filling for sweet glutinous rice balls, higher-quality pork belly fat is required because it dissolves completely, and its light flavor doesn’t overpower the fragrance of the black sesame seeds.
After the blocks of pork fat are cut into small cubes, they are quickly blanched in boiling water to remove the impurities and the undesired smell. This extra step can help make the lard clearer and more aromatic.
The pork fat cubes are then poured into a wok and fried on a low heat to extract the oil after bringing it to the boil. The cubes of pork fat will become golden when the moisture is gone. Pressing down the pork fat with a spatula will squeeze out all the oil.
Another method of making lard is to add a small bowl of cold water to the wok, then slowly simmer on low heat until the moisture evaporates completely. The key is not overcooking the pork fat, which would destroy the flavor of the lard.
The lard can last quite a long time once it’s cooled and sealed in a jar.
Rendering pork fat also produces pork crackling, a delicious snack seasoned with sugar or salt. The pork crackling obtained from rendering pork belly fat soften in water, while those from the pork loin fat stay crunchy.
The pork crackling can also be used to stir-fry green vegetables for an extra crunchy texture and rich flavor.
For people who love lard, the simplest way to eat lard is to flavor rice or noodles with lard and soy sauce.
Pork lard rice is a common staple in southern China. It was the poor man’s food made by mixing lard in hot steamed rice.
In Shanghai, a classic dish reminiscent for many people is rice with salt-cured meat and vegetable. The key ingredient is none other than lard, which brings the irresistible flavor.
In Jiangshu Province, there’s a soup called shenxian tang, or the “soup of immortals,” although it doesn’t take long hours of stewing and simmering. Decades ago, it was the simplest comfort food for people to enjoy.
The recipe doesn’t even include a main ingredient, all you need are two spoons of soy sauce, one spoon of lard, one spoon of vinegar plus some minced garlic, chopped scallions and white pepper powder. Put everything in a bowl and pour in some very hot water to dissolve all the lard and mix the seasonings.
The soup can also be used as a base for wonton or noodles, including the famous yangchun noodles, a very popular and comforting dish.
Lard has a relatively high smoke point and it’s ideal to use in high-temperature cooking. When used in frying, the lard has a more stable performance than most vegetable oils and can give the ingredients a golden-colored crust and better texture.
In desserts, lard is not only used for the purpose of making flaky pastry, but also for its unique flavor. In Suzhou, lard cake is a traditional dessert that dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The soft, white sweet cake is made of glutinous rice and polished round-grained rice with a significant amount of pork fat. Sweet lard cake often has red beans as a filling as well as nuts and jujube, it can also be savory by adding scallions.
Now is the osmanthus flower season and one of the iconic osmanthus desserts is glutinous rice cake with sugared osmanthus flowers. Lard is key ingredient in making the sticky and soft cake, as it can bring richer flavors and smoothiness.
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