Rousong

Rousong

Fragrance_Pork_Floss.jpg
Origin
Alternative name(s)	meat wool, meat floss, pork floss, flossy pork or pork sung
Place of origin	China
Details
Main ingredient(s)	Pork

Rousong
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	肉鬆
Simplified Chinese	肉松
Hanyu Pinyin	ròusōng
Literal meaning	meat fluff/loose
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin ròusōng Wu Romanization [ɲiɔʔ soŋ]
Rousu
Chinese	肉酥
Hanyu Pinyin	ròusū
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin ròusū Yue: Cantonese Jyutping juk6 sou1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ bah-so·
Rourong
Traditional Chinese	肉絨
Simplified Chinese	肉绒
Hanyu Pinyin	ròuróng
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin ròuróng Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC nṳ̆k-ṳ̀ng
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	ruốc (Northern Vietnamese) or chà bông (Southern Vietnamese)
Indonesian name
Indonesian	abon

Rousong, also called meat wool, meat floss, pork floss, flossy pork, pork sung or yuk sung, 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, and savoury soy milk. It is also used as filling for various buns and pastries, and as a snack food on its own. Rousong is a very popular food item in Chinese cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine.

Production

Rousong is made by stewing cuts of pork in a sweetened soy sauce mixture until individual muscle fibres can be easily teased 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 teased-apart meat is then strained and dried in the oven. After a light drying, the meat is 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 one kilogram of floss.

Pork-less versions

Fish floss is roasted to look very much like its meat counterpart.

Beef floss for sale in Sulawesi, Indonesia

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.

In Muslim majority Indonesia, beef floss is the most popular variant, and meat floss is commonly called abon. Malaysian Muslims make and consume meat floss made from chicken or beef called serunding, which is a popular delicacy during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

In Muslim majority Hausa cuisine, dambu nama is a dry shredded beef snack, similar to Rousong. It is fried and heavily spiced in its preparation.

Other versions

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.

See also

• Bakkwa
• Dried shredded squid
• List of dried foods
• Machaca
• Pulled pork
• Čvarci