Where’s the beef? A visit to a Beijing slaughterhouse
I'd call that rare.
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I joined a group from Migas, including three visiting chefs from Spain, on a trip to Beijing Zhuochen Animal Husbandry last week. It was my first visit to a slaughterhouse in China and, to say the least, more intense than the Migas seafood market tour last month. Zhuochen specializes in halal beef — that means, among other things, the animals are killed by slitting their throats (see this Saskatchewan site on halal meat). We didn’t see any animals killed but did see workers cutting off hooves, removing hides and halving carcasses. These would no doubt be disturbing sights for many people but it is the reality behind those burgers and steaks on our plates.
A Zhuochen rep told us that the animals are grass fed in Inner Mongolia and that the company’s clients include the Jingkelong supermarket chain in Beijing. (Migas is not yet a customer — this was their first time there.) The visiting chefs seemed impressed by the slaughterhouse and said it would pass EU standards. The company later had a barbecue beside the slaughterhouse…
