Rugao Ham (a specialty of Rugao, Jiangsu)

The basic introduction of Rugao ham

The production of Rugao ham began in 1851 AD (the early years of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty). In the late Qing Dynasty, it won the Honolulu Expo Award and the Excellent Honor Certificate of the "Nanyang Promotion Association". It is on par with Jinhua ham in Zhejiang and Xuanwei ham in Yunnan, and is one of the three famous ham brands in China. Due to its location in the north, Rugao is known as the 'North Leg'

What are the product characteristics of Rugao hamRugao ham is thin skinned and fine clawed, shaped like a pipa, red in color like fire, and has a unique flavor. It is produced using high-quality pigs raised in Rugao and Hai'an with pointed, fine footed, thin skinned and tender meat as raw materials. Pig legs are also carefully selected according to certain specifications, with appropriate weight and length, and plump leg muscles, and then finely processed through multiple processes to make them. Since 1982, it has been continuously rated as a high-quality product by the Ministry of Commerce

How did the history of Rugao ham come aboutIn the early years of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1851 AD), a leg making shop called "Tonghetai" quietly opened in the ancient city of Rugao. The master craftsmen used the local specialty "Dongchuan Pig" as the main ingredient to make ham, which made a big splash. Subsequently, 11 leg making shops including Guangfeng, Ruishenghe, and Hengchang successively settled in Rugao. By 1929, the number of large, small leg making shops in Rugao had reached 31. Among them, Rugao's "Guangfeng" also crossed the ocean and won a gold medal at the Honolulu International Exposition in the United States. With the establishment of the "Chinese Leg Making Company" in Rugao by Li Xiaochuan, who was known as the "King of Ham" at that time, Rugao began to be on par with Jinhua in Zhejiang and Xuanwei in Yunnan, becoming one of the three major ham centers in China. Rugao ham began to sell well both domestically and internationally, and even opened branches in the old Jinshan area where Chinese Americans lived. However, the masters of "Tonghetai" probably did not expect that just over 100 years later, the century old brand, which has gone through storms and ups and downs, would once again shine brightly. After the strictest evaluation, Rugao ham has been awarded the title of China Famous Brand Product. It is Jiangsu Changshou Group, a national key leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization, which has inherited and developed Rugao ham through innovative means in the continuous evolution of history. As one of the meat products with rich traditional Chinese characteristics, Chinese style ham has a strong ethnic cultural imprint. Although Jinhua ham is well-known and has a strong brand, in this evaluation of China's famous brand products, "Rugao ham", which is famous for its "color, aroma, taste, and shape" both at home and abroad, is not "slightly inferior". Instead, it is far ahead in the "application for name" due to its thin skin, fine claws, beautiful shape, bright color, salty aroma, and other characteristics. Xi Jun, Deputy General Manager of Jiangsu Changshou Group, sighed and said that it is technological breakthroughs that have given the "century old brand" a "tiger's wings" in the evaluation of Chinese famous brand products