World Flavors Cookbook

Zha (Fermented Meat Relish)

Name: Zha (Fermented Meat Relish)
Cuisine: Ancient World
Ingredients: minced pork or fish, millet wine or rice wine, coarse salt, dried ginger, cassia bark, Sichuan pepper, millet or cooked grain

Minced meat fermented with millet wine, salt, and spices into a pungent relish — described in the Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou) as one of the 120 official preparations for the royal table.

Cuisine: Ancient World

Ingredients

minced pork or fish, millet wine or rice wine, coarse salt, dried ginger, cassia bark, Sichuan pepper, millet or cooked grain

Instructions

Mix minced meat with salt (approximately 10% by weight). Add cooked millet, wine, ginger, cassia, and Sichuan pepper. Pack tightly into a ceramic vessel. Cover with oil or fat to exclude air. Leave to ferment at room temperature for 3-7 days for mild flavor, or weeks for stronger flavor. Use in small amounts as a seasoning paste.