The flesh has to be taken from the thighs of the bulls, cut into small pieces of one centimetre, and then marinated with mixed spices of salt, chilli powder, garlic, lemongrass and sesame. The beef has to be perfectly marinated. If it’s too salty, it will lose its original flavour, but if it’s too bland, it will rot.
After the early cooking process, the beef is dried under strong sunlight. It takes 30 minutes for the beef to completely dry out. This stage eliminates bacteria and gives the beef a natural aroma.
What surprised dinners more is the spice used with the beef. It was brown, a little bit sour, spicy and salty. But above all, it tasted very delicious, and natural and paired well with the half-dried beef.
The spice isn’t made from seawater like other kinds of salt. It comes from an unwanted creature – ants.
They are yellow ants, one of the specialities of the region. They live in trees in the forest or fruit trees and contain a lot of nutrients.
