Meat floss
Dried meat product from China
title: "Meat floss" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cambodian-cuisine", "chinese-cuisine", "dried-meat", "hong-kong-cuisine", "indonesian-cuisine", "macanese-cuisine", "malaysian-cuisine", "pork", "singaporean-cuisine", "taiwanese-cuisine", "vietnamese-cuisine"] description: "Dried meat product from China" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_floss" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Dried meat product from China ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox prepared food"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Abon sapi.JPG |
| caption | Meat floss made of beef |
| alternate_name | Meat wool, pork floss, flossy pork, meat cotton candy or pork sung |
| country | China |
| region | East Asia and Southeast Asia |
| associated_cuisine | Cambodian, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Taiwanese, Thail and Vietnamese |
| main_ingredient | Pork, beef, or chicken |
| :: |
| image = Abon sapi.JPG | caption = Meat floss made of beef | alternate_name = Meat wool, pork floss, flossy pork, meat cotton candy or pork sung | country = China | region = East Asia and Southeast Asia | associated_cuisine = Cambodian, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Taiwanese, Thail and Vietnamese | main_ingredient = Pork, beef, or chicken | s = 肉松 | t = 肉鬆 | l = meat fluff, meat flakes | p = ròusōng | mi = | wuu = | y = yuhk-sūng | altname = Southern Min name | c2 = 肉拊 | l2 = processed meat; rubbed / broken-down meat | poj2 = bah-hú | tl2 = bah-hú | altname3 = Southern Min name (Tainan) | c3 = 肉酥 | l3 = meat flakes, meat crisps | poj3 = bah-so· | tl3 = bah-soo | altname4 = Eastern Min name | s4 = 肉绒 | t4 = 肉絨 | l4 = (fine) meat wool, fine meat floss (embroidery silk); meat down feathers (or fine hair); meat velvet, fine meat fabric | buc4 = nṳ̆k-ṳ̀ng | vie = ruốc chà bông | khm = សាច់ជ្រូកផាត់ sach chruok phat | tha = หมูหย็อง | rtgs = mu yong | ind = abon | tgl = mahu masang | msa = serondeng | j = juk6 sung1 | altname5 = Hakka name | c5 = 肉麩 | l5 = meat wheat bran; meat gluten | h5 = ngiug fu
Meat floss, also known as yuk sung or rousong ( ; Mandarin Chinese: ), is a dried meat product of Chinese origin, with a light and fluffy texture similar to coarse cotton. It is more commonly known as bak hu (Hokkien: 肉拊, Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-hú) in Hokkien-influenced regions, such as Southeast Asia and Taiwan.
Production and styles
Meat floss is made by stewing finely cut pork, chicken or beef (though other meats may be used) in a sweetened mixture of soy sauce and various spices until individual muscle fibers can be easily torn apart. This happens when the water-insoluble collagen that holds the muscle fibers of the meat together has been converted into water-soluble gelatine.
There are two styles of meat floss, which differ in whether oil is added during the last process of production. The Jiangsu style rousong is dry-cooked and the product is slightly chewy, while the Fujian style bak hu is fried with oil and the product is mildly crispy. 5 kg of meat will usually yield about 1 kg of floss.
Variations
Fish can also be made into floss (魚鬆; yú sōng), though initial stewing is not required due to the low collagen and elastin content of fish meat. Rabbit and duck floss can also be found in China.
In Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia, beef or chicken floss is the most popular variant, commonly called abon in Indonesian and serunding (also spelled serondeng) in Malay. In Malaysia, serunding is often served during Ramadan and Eid.
File:Fish floss.JPG|Fish floss is roasted to look similar to yuk sung. File:Indonesian beef floss.jpg|Beef floss vendor in Sulawesi, Indonesia File:HK CWB Yee Wo Street 大班麵包西餅 TaiPan bakery breads 肉鬆包 Sept-2013.JPG|Meat floss buns from Hong Kong
Health effects
A study has demonstrated a positive correlation between increased processing temperatures of meat floss and increased formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) within the meat. Up to seven different HAAs were found when meat floss was processed at 150 C. HAAs are believed to promote the development of some cancers.
References
References
- Grigson, Jane. (January 1985). "World Atlas of Food". Bookthrift Company.
- (2014). "Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences Volume 1". Elsevier/Academic Press.
- "Chimbridge Singlish Dictionary of Singlish & Singaporean Terminology".
- Vickie Vaclavik, Elizabeth W. Christian. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DzMhwchiTMMC&pg=PA169 ''Essentials of Food Science'']. Springer, 2003, p. 169.
- Melia, Ken (2017). ''Review of Meat Floss – Identifying opportunities for Australian Red Meat''. North Sydney: Meat and Livestock Australia Limited
- Zhou, Zhen (2017). "Research of new duck floss with spicy flavor" ''Food and Fermentation Technology'': 120–125 – via Food Science and Technology Abstracts.
- Leistner, Lothar (2002). ''Hurdle Technologies: Combination Treatments for Food Stability, Safety and Quality''. New York: Kluwer / Plenum Publishers. pp. 132, 139. {{ISBN. 978-1-4613-5220-4.
- Thestar.com. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080923050546/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F9%2F20%2Fnation%2F2067208&sec=nation Thestar.com]." ''Mum’s meat floss legacy.'' Retrieved on 2008-09-19.
- Liao, Guozhou (April 2009). "Effects of Cooked Temperatures and Addition of Antioxidants on Formation of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Pork Floss". ''Journal of Food Processing and Preservation''. '''33''': 159–175. {{doi. 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2008.00239.x – via Web of Science.
- Weisburger, John H.. (2002-09-30). "Comments on the history and importance of aromatic and heterocyclic amines in public health". Mutation Research.
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