Rousong

Production

Rousong is made by stewing cuts of pork or beef in a sweetened soy sauce mixture until individual muscle fibres can be easily torn apart with a fork. This happens when the water-insoluble collagen that holds the muscle fibres of the meat together has been converted into water-soluble gelatine. The meat is teased apart, strained, and partially dried in the oven. It is then mashed and beaten while being dry-cooked in a large wok until it is nearly completely dry. Additional flavourings are usually added while the mixture is being dry-fried. Five kilograms of meat will usually yield about 1 kg of floss.

Other versions

Fish can also be made into floss (魚鬆; yú sōng), though initial stewing is not required due to the low collagen and elastin content of fish meat. Rabbit and duck floss can also be found in China.

In Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia, beef or chicken floss is the most popular variant and is commonly called abon (Indonesian) or serunding (Malay). In Malaysia, serunding is a popular delicacy during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

In the Muslim-majority Hausa cuisine of Northern Nigeria, dambu nama is a dry, shredded beef snack, similar to rousong. It is fried and heavily spiced in its preparation.

A very similar product is pork fu (肉脯; pinyin: ròufǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-hú), which is less fried and less shredded than rousong, and has a more fibrous texture.

Health

A study has demonstrated a positive correlation between increased processing temperatures of rousong and increased formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) within the meat. Up to seven different HAAs were found when rousong was processed at 150°C. HAAs are believed to promote the development of some cancers.