Tasty sour pork requires a careful selection of ingredients and delicate skill. Only free range pigs, fed with vegetables and weighing about 20 kilograms, can produce the firm pork and crispy skin needed. The pork is grilled until it turns yellow.
The Muong people then slice it thinly and remove the tendons.
The pork is marinated with salt, garlic, and powdered grilled corn, mixed well, and put into dried bamboo tubes.
The bamboo tubes should be neither too young nor too old.
Several guava leaves should be placed at both ends of the tube to prevent mould and trigger fermentation. The pork should be packed into the tubes tightly.
Sour pork is hung in the kitchen can last for months. It takes three days for sour pork to develop a perfect taste. Fish can be cooked the same way and takes seven days before being ready for serving.
The more tightly the pork is packed into the bamboo tubes, the better it tastes. It can stay fresh for about three months.
Sour pork is usually served with fig, guava and apricot leaves and dipped in chilli or fish sauce. The dish is a mixture of crispy pork skin, fatty pork, fragrant powdered corn, fresh herbs, and spicy sauce.
