What is cigarette, why is it extremely rare and expensive, National Assembly deputies must speak up

Cigarette hearts can be processed into many delicious dishes, the selling price is also "sky-high", ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 million VND/kg, even up to 4 million VND/kg in some places. This price has partly shown the "rarity" of cigarettes.

According to folklore, cigarette hearts are a special type of pig heart, unlike the usual types of hearts that we often encounter in meals. This type of heart is only found in long-lived and emaciated female pigs, then the inner layer will be shaped like the cigarette tubes that people often use to smoke.

There are also people who think that cigarette intestines are actually the intestines of pigs with health problems or mutations, this type of intestines is characterized by being crispy, greasy but not greasy, bringing a special feeling when enjoyed. The reason why it is called "cigarette" is because the shape of the heart resembles cigarette tubes, with a thick outer membrane and prominent veins.

Cigarettes are rare and expensive due to a number of reasons. According to folklore, firstly, this type of heart is only found in long-lived, emaciated sows, and each pig only has a piece of heart. Therefore, the supply of this type of heart is very limited, not always available. Moreover, not all pigs have such heart characteristics, so it is not easy to find a female pig with a heart for cigarettes.

Secondly, the process of processing cigarette butts is also very elaborate and time-consuming. In order for the intestines to be properly processed and retain the characteristic flavor, the maker must carry out many steps such as preliminary processing to remove excess fat, soaking in ice water to preserve the crispiness, and especially boiling the intestines in boiling water with ginger to remove the fishy smell. This requires highly experienced and technical workers, making the processing process time-consuming and complicated. In the market, the price of 1 kg of cigarettes can range from a few million to 5 million VND.

In addition, there is also information that cigarette heart is actually a form of mutant young heart, which can contain many parasites, worms, and worms,... if not processed properly, it will endanger the health of consumers.

Netizens are skeptical

At the end of April, the Facebook account P.B.H. posted the article "Exposing the deceitful appetite" about the cigarette heart. The author said that cigarette hearts are very rare, "tens of thousands of cigarettes are lucky to have a child".

He affirmed that his family used to have rice for more than 30 years thanks to pig slaughterhouses. He said that cigarette hearts are expensive and rare. So now when he goes to the restaurant, he sees the cigarette heart, he "immediately knows the product of the magician".

This Facebooker also said that he used to learn how to turn an ordinary piece of pork intestines into a piece of cigarette butt, but because of the toxic nature of the catalytic chemical, he finished learning but never did it.

P.B.H.'s post was shared dizzyingly and sparked controversy on many social networking forums about the real story of the cigarette, as well as the issue of food safety and hygiene.

Most recently, a community page shared images that are said to be a rare string of cigarettes, up to 40m long. The post immediately attracted the attention of netizens with tens of thousands of interactions and more than 5,000 comments.

In addition to opinions expressing surprise at the "huge" length of the heart chain, many people expressed skepticism such as: "It's so rare, but the goods are available, only intervention"; "The heart of a cigarette 3-40m long is the heart of something, not of a pig"...

Ms. Nguyen Yen (a small pork trader for nearly 20 years in Thuy Nguyen, Hai Phong) shared that this is the most "expensive" part of the pig because it is crispier than the stomach, stomach and intestines, but the number is very small, it can be said that it is rare.

She said that the cigarette heart is actually a young pig's heart, but it has thick walls and many folds on the inside. When eaten, this type of intestines brings a chewy, crunchy and slightly sweet feeling, and the taste is considered better than ordinary young intestines.

This small trader also said that in fact, the cigarette heart only appears in one section, not the whole heart, so the number is small, about 2-3 pounds, especially there is a part of the cigarette heart that weighs more than half a pound.

Not to mention, the heart of each pig (if any) is also different, based on the thickness of the heart wall.

"The heart of the cigarette is not always even, a hundred segments are like one because the thickness of each heart is different. There is a thick-walled part, which is very crispy and greasy to eat, but there is a thin-walled part, which is a bit chewy to eat, so it is easy to be mistaken for the first part," Ms. Yen added.

According to the female small trader, in nearly 20 years of selling pork, the number of times she has met a cigarette is only counted on her fingertips. Most recently, Tet 2024, she "locked" 1 batch of cigarettes from the slaughterhouse, weighing about 4 pounds.

"Even if I have a heart for cigarettes, merchants like me can rarely buy them, let alone retail customers because the slaughterhouse will let them eat or sell to VIP customers," she affirmed.

Ms. Xuan Nguyen, the owner of a restaurant in Gia Ngu (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi) said: "There are not many cigarette hearts, not items that I can import to sell every day, but not all frozen goods as many people say."

Ms. Xuan's family has a tradition of doing business and trading food. Her parents have a long-standing row of porridge in Hanoi. Her cousin used to build a pig slaughterhouse and trade in pork.

"My family is a profession, so I have a lot of experience in identifying fresh, delicious and quality organs. My restaurant currently sells more than 30 dishes, of which, the most expensive are vermicelli and grilled hotpot. These dishes are all made from pig organs, so it is especially important to find sources of fresh and quality imports," Ms. Xuan said.

Currently, these controversies are still heating up social networking forums and show no signs of ending. Many netizens expressed their desire for the market management agency to get involved and authenticate the origin of this food.

The heart of the cigarette is under the inspection of the Ho Chi Minh City authorities. HCM

ASS. Dr. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, Director of the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City, said that advertising cigarette hearts up to 40 meters long is a commercial fraud in processing - a trick to raise the price of an inherently rare and expensive dish.

Ms. Lan affirmed that the Department is conducting inspections, traceability, sampling for testing, clarifying whether the product uses additives or contains toxic substances.

"Previously, the supervision of this item was not put into focus because the Department prioritized inspecting pork and more popular products," Ms. Lan shared.

ASS. Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, a former lecturer at the Institute of Food Technology (Hanoi University of Science and Technology), said that the cigarette is a piece of the intestine with a twisted shape like a plow, inside of which contains a characteristic white powder. This is a fatty, crispy heart, sought after by many gourmets in traditional cuisine.

"But not everyone knows, the best part of the cigarette is only located at the beginning of the small intestine, near the stomach and is very rare. Therefore, the story of the '40-meter-long cigarette heart' is just an exaggeration," Mr. Thinh emphasized.

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