Harbin's Red Sausage and Lieba bread: as big as a dinner plate!
I’m usually not so much about souvenirs, but Harbin is known for two things that one can bring home (domestically): Red Sausage and Lieba bread.
Both are evidences of the Russian influence in the city. Harbin Red Sausage is a kind of smoked pork sausage without the sweet flavor that Chinese sausage often has; something much more to my liking. Lieba bread is supposedly made with beer hops, giving them a distinct flavor.
The brand that is known for Lieba bread is Churin Food (Qiulin 秋林食品 in Chinese), named for Ivan Churin, a Russian businessman who supposedly brought this bread-making technique to Harbin.
In one of the stores, they have shelves full of their bread. Be careful to buy the “Big” Lieba, or Dalieba. I was going to buy a small one, but found that the recipe was different. The small Lieba had sugar and other ingredients, which I think made it softer, and last longer on the shelf. The Dalieba has just flour, water, yeast, salt and hops as ingredients, and is supposed to last a long time all on its own.
Churin also sells Red Sausages, and I bought some, along with a beef sausage that was very peppery.
There were other brands here too.
I bought some full fat and lean pork Red Sausage from this store too.
Man, the bread was super heavy - I could feel how dense it must be!
Back in Shanghai, I could see the difference between the Small and Big Lieba. The Big Lieba is definitely the authentic one. The Small one is soft and sweet, kind of like regular sandwich bread.
While the big one is dense and slightly bitter from the hops. And so big - one slice fills up my dinner plate! One is supposed to eat it with the sausage and butter. I could do without the butter - just the bread and sausage together were delicious!
