Dongxiang mutton, a traditional cuisine of Zhenjiang, is abundant in the east suburbs of the Dalu Town, Yaoqiao Town, and Dagang prefecture, neighboring Se-mountain. Dongxiang mutton is also known as “Fotiaoqiang”(Steamed Abalone with Shark’s Fin and Fish Maw in Broth). The mutton is not only nutritious and nourishing, but also tender, instead of stinky and greasy, it is rather mellow and delicious. As a regular eater, you will yearn for it if you don’t eat it in a few days, the delicacy is indeed unforgettable.
When October passes, hotels, restaurants and village mutton butchers in the Dongxiang area of Zhenjiang will launch their own Dongxiang mutton banquets: braised mutton with soy sauce, mutton soup soaked with ”Jingjiangqi”, a local traditional pastry, attracting numerous diners to enjoy the “mutton diet”. It is especially fastidious to cut mutton into bite-size pieces, classify ingredients in proportion, master cooking time start the fire. Especially the mastery of the heating, when to start the fire, and when to reduce the heat already makes the diners rush for its gastronomy.
Dongxiang mutton soup looks white and smells fresh, and the taste is even better. When eaten with Jingjiangqi, a local traditional pastry, it is comparable to Xi’an’s famous cuisine: Steamed mutton and bread. The mutton of Dongxiang is most coveted around winter and Spring Festival period. Tender and delicious, oily but not greasy, with its’ unique flavor, it is a good winter tonic for all ages. Xi’an’s steamed mutton and bread, Beijing’s lamb hot pot, and Xinjiang’s mutton kebab have been famous for a long time, and Dongxiang lamb is not inferior to them.
