Famous Phuoc Long buffalo jerky

Bac Lieu has no shortage of shrimp and fish, so when Tet comes, the traditional specialties become boring. To entertain guests on Tet, the host often grills dried foods, quickly adding spicy flavor with a glass of spring wine. One of the dried foods that is currently popular here is dried buffalo.

Buffalo jerky must be dried in the sun for 3 days to achieve the best quality (Hoang Nam).

Famous for its deliciousness

When coming to Bac Lieu, if you ask where to buy famous delicious buffalo jerky, the locals will direct you to Phi Van facility located right at Phuoc Long town market, Phuoc Long district.

Coming here on the days before Tet 2024, visitors will see an old couple, one of them is busy running around to check and dry the dried beef in front of the house. The other is busy packing hundreds of kilograms of dried buffalo jerky to send to Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Phi Van dried food stall in Phuoc Long Bac Lieu specializes in handmade and selling famous buffalo jerky (Hoang Nam)

With the help of my grandchildren, some are sold online, some are packaged and sent. If anyone wants soft food, please let me know in advance. We make as much as we order, so we can ensure all products are of good quality.

Speaking to a reporter from Kinh te va Do thi newspaper, 62-year-old Phi Van said: “In the past, I was doing other jobs, but one day I suddenly thought I should research and make buffalo jerky. Seeing that the income was stable, I followed the profession. And yet, thanks to its delicious taste, for more than 20 years now, buffalo jerky has been exported all over the world.”

“Every month, Phi Van sells to the market from several hundred kilograms to tons. But the most is during Tet, consuming from 2.5 to 3 tons is normal” - Mr. Phi Van added.

The couple only makes dried buffalo jerky as customers order it to ensure the best quality (Hoang Nam).

At that time, they just invited people to try it, found it delicious so they encouraged them to make it on a large scale for business. Gradually, many people knew about it and ordered it as gifts from their hometown for Tet, and the buffalo jerky business of Mr. Van and his wife became stable like today. Thanks to that, all of their children have finished their studies and are now working far away. "The problem is, when they have stable jobs, none of them come back to help, leaving the old couple alone" - said Ms. Nguyen Thi Theu, 58 years old, Mr. Van's wife.

The secret to building a brand

The couple said that to make the famous buffalo jerky, meat and spices are the two most important ingredients. All steps must be done meticulously by hand. Accordingly, the buffalo meat is only the muscle meat, thigh meat collected from slaughterhouses around the area. When still fresh, the tendons and fat must be removed so that when eaten, it is not tough and fishy. The spices mainly include sugar, salt, MSG (monosodium glutamate), soy sauce, garlic, chili, and minced lemongrass.

Dried buffalo meat must be dried in the sun for 3 days, absolutely do not dry by machine (Hoang Nam)

But the most important step to make delicious jerky is the sun-drying step. After the buffalo meat is marinated with spices, it must be dried in the sun for 3 days (ie 3 days of strong sunlight). After processing and drying, 2.5 kg of fresh meat will produce 1 kg of buffalo jerky. So the current price of each kg of buffalo jerky is fluctuating from 580,000 to 600,000 VND/kg.

Buffalo meat must be fresh and have tendons and fat removed (Hoang Nam)

“When it rains but the sun is not enough, we have to vacuum it and put it in the refrigerator to wait for the sun to dry it again. If you want it softer, you can tell us, we will dry it in a weaker sun. But we absolutely cannot dry it by machine, because the buffalo jerky will be of poor quality, this is the rule. So when it rains heavily, we have to give up” – Uncle Phi Van said.

Speaking to Kinh te va Do thi newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Men, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phuoc Long district, said: “Buffalo jerky at Phi Van facility is considered a famous strong brand of the district, loved by consumers for many years. In 2024, the district will support the promotion of procedures to make this item a 3-star OCOP product.”

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/nuc-tieng-kho-trau-phuoc-long.html