''Rousong'' or ''yuk sung or bak hu'' ( ; ), also known as meat floss, is a dried meat product with a light and fluffy texture similar to coarse cotton, originating from China. ''Rousong'' is used as a topping for many foods, such as congee,

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super fi ...

, rice, and savory

soy milk Soy milk (simplified Chinese: 豆浆; traditional Chinese: 豆漿) also known as soya milk or soymilk, is a plant-based drink produced by soaking and grinding soybeans, boiling the mixture, and filtering out remaining particulates. It is a sta ...

. It is also used as filling for various savory buns and pastries as well as a topping for baked goods filled with bean paste, for example, and as a snack food on its own. ''Rousong'' is a very popular food item in Chinese, Vietnamese (called ruốc in the North and chà bông in the South) and

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

dining.

Production and styles

Rousong is made by stewing finely cut

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

, or

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quant ...

(though other meats may be used) in a sweetened mixture of soy sauce and various spices until individual

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are Organ (biology), organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other ...

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 Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...

. The meat is teased apart, strained, and partially dried in the oven. It is then mashed and beaten while being cooked in a large wok until it is nearly completely dry. Additional flavourings are usually added while the mixture is being fried. The two main styles of rousong diverge on whether oil is added during the last process of production. The

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its c ...

style rousong is dry-cooked and the product is slightly chewy, while the

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

style rousong is fried with oil and the product is mildly crispy. of meat will usually yield about of floss.

Variations

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

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 Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, beef or chicken floss is the most popular variant and is commonly called ''abon'' in

and ''serunding'' in Malay. In Malaysia, ''serunding'' is a popular delicacy during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. In the Muslim-majority

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

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'' (; pinyin: ''ròufǔ''; ), which is less fried and less shredded than ''rousong'', and has a more fibrous texture. In Japan, a variant made from fish is called . File:Fish floss.JPG, Fish floss is roasted to look similar to ''yuk sung'' File:Indonesian beef floss.jpg, Beef floss for sale in Sulawesi, Indonesia

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.

References

{{Taiwanese cuisine Chinese cuisine Indonesian cuisine Singaporean cuisine Malaysian cuisine Cambodian cuisine Vietnamese cuisine Taiwanese cuisine Macau cuisine Hong Kong cuisine Dried meat Pork