Shocked "visit" rotten fat processing plant

The squishy, ​​crumbly, stinky pork fat collected from the market, without being processed or cleaned, is cut into 5-10cm pieces and put straight into the frying pan, then poured into plastic cans. The fat is stored in dirty, black baskets and basins and sold to people selling processed food.

Buy waste and rancid fat from markets to make products.

Dirty fat processing industry

The production furnace of Mr. Do Van H (Tan Chau, Hung Yen) is a dilapidated, damp house, the surrounding furnace and the floor are black, slippery, and slimy. Piles of pig skin and lard of all kinds are piled up on the ground in long blocks. On the stove, a large, concave-bottomed pan is frying boiling lard, next to it is a dirty lard container that looks like it has never been washed. The smell of fresh lard is too strong, the lard left for a few days turns into a foul, rotten smell mixed with the smell of finished lard and water, making you nauseous.

Mr. H and his mother (over 70 years old) quickly sorted the fat. The flabby pieces, the long ones, the broken pieces, the ones with many defects, the ones with hairs were kept separately, the thick pieces of fat that had an unpleasant smell, and the ones with skin were kept in one place. The ingredients before and after sorting did not go through any preliminary processing or cleaning process but were cut into small pieces and put directly into the frying pan, except for some pieces that were dirty and had a smell after a long time, so they were rinsed with water hastily.

The processing is simple, just cut the fat into small pieces, put them in a pan, boil, fry to get the water, then filter the residue, let it cool, pour it into cans of all sizes, black and covered with dirt.

After chatting with the reporter, Mr. H shared about his work: “I personally go to buy pork fat at many markets. At the end of the market, the meat traders collect all the waste, unsold goods, stale goods, scraps, and lumps, filter them out, weigh them, and when I go over, they report the quantity and I pay. Many days, when I am busy and late, the meat stall owners throw the meat on the sidewalk and go home, I go over and pick it up and pay the next day. There are days when many stores have few goods and have to store them for a few days and weigh them once, so it is inevitable that the fat will smell rancid.”

The price of lard, leaf lard, scraps, and already smelly is 3,000 VND/kg, the thicker, “better quality” type is 4,000-5,000 VND/kg. It is very easy to buy and readily available, meat traders compete to sell because instead of throwing it away, traders can earn a few tens of thousands from the scraps of lard.

Doing this job only requires hardship and dirt to make a living, the goods are easy to sell, the ingredients are cheap, the tools and processing are simple. Moreover, even though the fat is rancid and rotten, when fried into water, it is still fragrant, fatty and has a characteristic flavor, the fat is yellow, clear, and the pork rinds are crispy and delicious.

Small factory, big trust.

Small business, big achievements

Mr. H's small but profitable factory producing waste and rancid lard is popular with many restaurants. In addition, the factory is rented in a location far from home, so few people pay attention or know about it, except for business contacts.

Currently, the furnace produces 50-60kg of liquid lard and pork rinds every day. Mr. H buys the lard for processing every market closes. The lard processing usually takes place in the early afternoon. 1kg of lard, shredded lard, spoiled meat, and flaky meat will yield 4-5 ounces of liquid lard. In one working session, the furnace processes about 10-15kg.

Mr. H's customers are cheap restaurants, shops selling processed foods, onion fryers, fried dough sticks, cakes... and even restaurants and beer bars use this type of lard. The price of lard is 16,000 - 18,000 VND/kg; the price of pork fat is 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg. Compared to the price of raw materials after processing, the money earned from lard products is "one capital, four profits".

“Using cooking oil to cook food is not as delicious as lard and the cost is several times higher. Using lard for frying is much hotter and the food is more delicious and fatty. Lard and pork crackling sell very well, they sell out as soon as they are made, there are even days when there is no stock to return to customers, especially in winter. People who make rice and ready-to-eat food buy pork cracklings to wrap into spring rolls, sausages, etc., which is very profitable,” Mr. H excitedly analyzed.

According to Labor