Pork: How to Best Eat 14 Different Parts
Pork is the most commonly eaten meat in our daily lives, and when people buy pork, they are paying increasing attention to the differences in nutrition and texture between different parts. However, the wide variety of pork cuts makes it difficult to distinguish them at a glance. Here is a simple introduction to help everyone understand how to choose pork. Depending on the cooking method, pork, excluding the head, trotters (feet), and tail, is generally divided into the following 14 parts.
1. Blood Neck: The neck meat from the ear to the scapula, strip-shaped with equal parts fat and lean, and is tough. Suitable for making crispy pork, char siu, and meat fillings.
2. Eagle Beak: A square piece of meat located behind the blood neck and on the upper part of the front leg bone. The meat is tender; the front half is suitable for making crispy fried pork, shredded pork, and sliced pork, while the back half is suitable for making cherry pork, oil-fried pork, fried pork strips, and stir-fried dishes.
3. Harliba: The meat on the fan-shaped bone of the front leg (covering the bone), which is old and has many tendons. Suitable for braising, stewing, soy-saucing, and red-cooking.
4. Tenderloin: Also called small tenderloin. A long strip of meat between the kidney and the dividing bone, slightly thinner at one end, with reddish meat. This is the leanest and most tender part of the pork, suitable for stir-frying, sautéing, and frying.
5. Loin: Also called outside tenderloin. A long strip of meat parallel to and outside the spine. The meat is pale and tender. Suitable for quick stir-frying, soft frying, and making minced meat.
6. Bottom Board: A rectangular piece of meat under the hind leg bone, close to the rind, thick at one end and thin at the other. The meat is relatively tough. Suitable for making wok-braised pork, clear soy sauce pork, and shredded pork.
7. Fork: A triangular piece of meat between the hip bone and the vertebrae, with relatively tender meat. Suitable for stir-frying, sautéing, and making shredded or sliced pork.
8. Rump Tip: The meat close to the sitting rump, pale red, and tender. Suitable for making diced pork, pork strips, and shredded or sliced pork.
9. Fist Meat: Also called hammer meat. Lean meat wrapped around the hind leg bone, round like a fist. The meat is tender. Suitable for making shredded or sliced pork and for frying or stir-frying.
10. Cucumber Meat: A long, lean piece next to the bottom board, shaped like a cucumber, with a relatively tough texture, suitable for shredded pork.
11. Flank: A lean piece between the front of the lower hind leg and the belly, with alternating fat and lean, and thin layers. Suitable for stewing, braising, and stir-frying.
12. Loin Fat: A ring of lean meat attached to the leaf lard, covered by a layer of fat skin. Suitable for stewing, braising, or making fillings.
13. Pork Belly: Located behind the front legs and in front of the hind legs, the side ribs have alternating layers of fat and lean, creating a three-layer "five-flower" pattern. The part with ribs is called upper pork belly or hard rib, and is suitable for slicing. The part without ribs is called lower pork belly or soft rib, and is suitable for stewing, braising, and making fillings.
14. Pork Knuckle: In the south, it's called ham hock, which is the leg meat. It has a lot of connective tissue and a firm, tough texture. Suitable for soy-saucing, braising, and boiling.