After finishing up the package of sliced, non-refrigerated Chinese bacon that bought at Walmart, I think I'm probably done with that type. It fries up nice and crispy, just like American bacon. But, its got this really funky smell that I can quite ignore.

I just bought this refrigerated, sliced Yurun brand bacon at Walmart. (It is labeled "Elaborate Bacon".) It doesn't look anything like American bacon and its a bit pricey compared to other cured meats. I'm just hoping it has a taste, smell, and texture that works for me.

I tried it out of the pack, fried and boiled. The first two methods still leave a very salty taste in the ham. Boiling it removes quite a bit of the salt. Boiling to remove as much salt as possible, then frying it, might make it a bit more pleasing to the palate.

Most of my experimentation with China packaged meats have failed. Gave up long ago. I did find Yurun with the Beretta brand to be acceptable/edible.

Elaborate bacon doesn't taste like bacon to me. I buy 'Aka' brand bacon from Metro. 1 Kg package for 42 rmb. Real cheap. It's high in fat, but it tastes nice and crispy like proper bacon and it renders a lot of fat which can be used to fry other stuff. Animal fat is better than cooking with synthetic oils so it does the trick for me.

And Metro has French ham which is fanstastic and not too expensive.

+1 exactly what Magnifico said. I also buy the Aka brand bacon and its all right, pretty fatty but my wife likes it because I leave it in the wok after frying and she then cooks dinner with it :)

But like everything in Metro, its there one day, gone the next and not to be seen for months. I wish they would get somebody that could actually do logistics/stock management properly, clearly the Germans aren't running that side of the business.

Yunnan Ham raw though? You probably *can* but the question is probably whether you *should*. We always cook it.

Let's just hope the recent purchase of Smithfield by Shuanghui means we'll see some decent American bacon in Chinese stores in coming months.

You were right, Magnifico. The "elaborate bacon" didn't taste like anything familiar. (It scares me to imagine what "non-elaborate bacon" is like.)

Haha, non-elaborate. Knockoff Bacon. The Chinglish-y name sort of gives it away that it's going to be a disappointment, if you ask me.

Shyam, the only reason I mentioned Aka brand is because that's the one that seems to always be in stock at Metro. And like I said, the fat is useful for cooking other stuff, so you kill 2 birds.

But on one occasion I did buy "American bacon" from Metro and another time they had something like "Black pepper bacon". Both were really good (and imported I think, not Chinese), but like blobbles pointed out, inventory control isn't one of Metro's strong points. I guess one possibility is if you see the real stuff, horde it and freeze it. Can you freeze bacon? Why not? You can even make non-elaborate frozen bacon popsicles!

Hey, let's not knock Metro too much. I just noticed they have New Zealand mussels in the freezer the other day. Pretty cool, if you ask me that we can get that in this part of the world. I don't think the prices were outrageous. Gotta try and make 'em with some marinara sauce or something. Haven't eaten mussels since the Qing Dynasty.

There is nothing "dangerous" about eating cured ham. It is cured with lots of salt, which is a very potent bactericide. It is just as safe as cooking it with heat, if it is bacteria that you are concerned about.