Roast Shop

Chinese people at home and abroad often had the same obsession with "wild". Everyone thought that whether the animal flew in the sky, ran on the ground, or swam in the water, it was healthier to eat it if it was wild, so the finished products are more "fresh." Take chickens, for example. Chickens advertised as being free-range in rural areas were much more expensive and more sought after than those from farms. People preferred to buy the former for two or three times more. Some people even bought or poached them from national protected wildlife areas, but usually wound up in jail.

Butcher shops in San Francisco's Chinatown weren't exempt from this phenomenon, using wild mountain pork and venison meats as gimmicks to solicit customers.

Mountain pigs were wild boars, but different places called them by different names.

The fragrant smell in the meat shop was a bit sweet and reminiscent of the chicken and duck skin being roasted to a crisp.