Tips for Living, January 31st: 'To the Site Where Deep Larou (Cured Meat) is Made'

This day was a double-header for location shoots. I met up with the team at the Hunan restaurant Xiangyu Tokyo (Ikebukuro) just after noon. We drove for about an hour to a warehouse that also serves as a factory for ingredients.

On this day, we were sourcing pork to make dried meat called larou. In China's Hunan and Sichuan provinces, it is a dish that families also make as a winter preserved food. I suppose you could say it's like Japanese bacon that has been smoked even further.

A wagon pulled up alongside, and half a pig was delivered.

It was my first time seeing it raw, but even just half a carcass seemed to weigh 40 kilograms. There were six of these. (Three pigs' worth)

A huge mountain of meat... It was breathtaking.
The pork is domestic Japanese pork, specifically from Okinawa. (Okinawa is famous for dishes like rafute, or braised pork belly, and since larou also uses pork belly, I assume they are very particular about their ingredients.)

First, the work of removing bones and excess fat. Just watching it, you can tell it's hard physical labor.

They carefully cut the parts and separate the pork belly.

Meanwhile, they are heating salt in a giant wok.

Inside are Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon. They add a special sauce as well.

They put the cut pork belly into that, and rub the salt in.

Owner Liu says to rub it in "as if you are giving it a massage." It seems to help the flavor soak in.

In any case, a massive amount of pork belly is piled up.

These are left to let the flavor soak in, and after that, they are hung up to dry as you can see. Is it like making takuan (pickled daikon)?

Once this process is finished, it is smoked further to create a deep, rich flavor.

I am impressed by how much time and effort this work really takes. It feels like a child on a field trip to realize that this is how it reaches our stomachs, but it feels a bit strange that this kind of work is being done in a corner of the town just anywhere.

Eventually, this larou becomes a dish like this.

We will be holding a collaboration event between Shiwei and Shokusai Yunnan.

Date and Time: February 12, 2026 (Thursday)
Banquet: Starts at 19:00
20:00 Bian Lian (Face-changing) show, etc.
Location: Ueno Shiwei
9F, 4-4-6 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Participation Fee: 7,000 yen (includes all-you-can-drink)
Participation Form:https://x.gd/AbjsS
*Cancellations on the day will be charged in full.
*Reservation confirmation will be sent via reply email.
Please note that you may not be able to participate
if the planned number of people reaches capacity.

Inquiries: Minghui Mu 090-6537-7233