History of Mutton in Qingyang

Qingyang Mutton The mutton baozhao of Qingyang has been famous for a long time. Compared with the lamb steamed buns in Xi'an, Qingyang's lamb steamed buns have a different flavor and are famous for their freshness. This is because the mutton used in Qingyang Mutton Buns is freshly killed, freshly boiled and sold on the same day and eaten on the same day. Qingyang is surrounded by mountainous areas, with large mountains and lush grass, suitable for sheep grazing. In the past, most of the farmers living here raised sheep, with some households having flocks of hundreds of sheep. Every market day, there were sheep for sale everywhere in the livestock market, where the mutton restaurants shopped for big, fat sheep, and during the week they also went down to the countryside to shop in the sheep pens.'' The purchased sheep are killed and sold on the spot. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of people who specialize in the mutton business. They go to the household to buy sheep, slaughter and skinning, the same day the sheep cavity cavity (remove the viscera of the lamb with bones) to the mutton museum. The sheep will be purchased now killed now cooked now sold now eat, which is completely possible in Qingcheng, but in the city of Xi'an is difficult to say. They do mutton buns with mutton, most of the cold storage or refrigerator from the past, no refrigerator and other electrical appliances, but also from far away to catch the sheep, has been lack of thin, which has the Qingcheng near the freshness of the lamb now buy! Qingyang people on the sheep species, produce sheep location, eat mutton season have to pay attention to. They only eat goat meat, generally do not eat sheep meat, smack sheep meat stink. If you want to eat sheep meat, have to wait until the winter sheep drink ice ballast water before killing and eating, it is said that this time the sheep meat is not too stinky. Eat mutton, only eat the goat, the local people called capricorn, capricorn sheep, do not eat ewes or rams (male goats called Sao Hu, male sheep called billy goat Hu), smacked its tartness, the flavor is not pure. In the county, there is a kind of thin branches and leaves in the mountains of pepper grass, sheep love to eat, eat this kind of grass of lamb meat is not stinky. Eat mutton to "Duan Yang Festival" before and after the time for the best. At this time, the sheep only after the spring to eat young grass, the flavor is more than any time is delicious. Often kill a sheep, the whole family to eat a few days, trying to be fresh. Qingyang people cook mutton, usually cooked with bones. It is often said that the bone of the chicken and the marrow of the sheep; the mutton cooked with bone can dissolve the marrow flavor in the soup, making the meat and soup more delicious. Cooking meat, under the seasoning to ginger-based, plus pepper, grass nuts, cinnamon, ginger and so on. Not under the big incense, for fear of taste bitter; also rarely under the pepper, for fear of soup black. Cooked mutton has several ways to eat: one is clear soup mutton. Bone mutton cut into slices, placed in a bowl, with the boiling mutton is cooking mutton soup several times, so that the mutton becomes hot, and then scooped mutton soup; on the addition of mutton oil chili, and then sprinkled with chopped green onions and parsley. At this time, the bright red lamb soup floating above the white onions and greens, red, white and green, not to mention eat, look at, but also mouth-watering. If you think the flavor is not strong, you can also add a little pepper. There are garlic cloves on the table for diners to eat under the meat. Qingcheng people eat mutton steamed bun durable bun, is the hair of the noodles, softer and. Some of them are burned into small round cakes, and some of them are burned into big "pot helmets", which is commonly called "steamed bun" by Qingcheng people. Eat, soup meat and bread separately, by the eater to choose to eat: one is to break the bread into small pieces, put people and mutton bowl and mutton and mutton soup a piece of food: one is a bite of bread, and then eat a mouthful of meat or drink a mouthful of soup, under the eat. Clear soup of mutton, in the mutton soup is clear. This way to soak the bun, keep the freshness of the mutton soup, which is fundamentally different from the Xi'an city's mutton steamed bun eating method. Xi'an city of mutton steamed buns used buns are dead flour cake, especially hard, to be eaten by the hand pinch broken, handed over to the chef with mutton in the pot braised, a bowl of braised. Braised lamb steamed buns, soup is paste, meat is too broken, no meat flavor; if the cake pinch is not broken, braised cake is still too hard. Xi'an people eat mutton steamed buns, the condiments used are purchased in the market chili sauce and sugar garlic. These two kinds of food and mutton steamed buns are not flavorful, Qingyang people are not used to eating. Second, stewed mutton, also known as seat pot mutton. Mutton with bone chopped into small pieces, boiled in the pot boiled, scooped into a bowl, a tall bowl, on the bleached bright red mutton oil chili and green onions, cilantro, steaming up. Although there is still a piece of steamed buns at the same time, but you can not care about eating buns, hands and chopsticks and hold up, while fading bones and eat meat, eat this bowl, to ensure that you are not hungry for a day, it is really a little cool. Shaanxi people look dumbfounded, said Qingyang people are "northern mountain wolves", said: "mouth outside the northern mountain wolves eat mutton, pure (zhòng in) paranoia it!" Qingyang people eat mutton steamed buns, is a hobby, a few days do not eat cravings, always have to bring the family on the mutton museum "n to" a meal. Sometimes simply buy a live sheep slaughtered, first eat a meal of mutton steamed buns, and then eat a couple of haggis, the remaining meat used for buns, dumplings. In the past, the people's commune to improve the livelihood of workers mainly rely on mutton. Long-term cadres working in the production team back to report on the work, stove sent back to buy one or several sheep to kill; first eat a meal of sheep pounding stew, and then eat a meal of mutton steamed buns, and finally a meal of mutton haggis, even ate three times, to solve everyone's craving. Cadres coming from the countryside often instructed the grass-roots comrades, not on what seven plates and eight bowls, and not on the wine, on a bowl of mutton steamed buns the best! This shows people's love for Qingyang mutton steamed buns. Qingyang people have a long history of sheep herding and eating mutton, which can be traced back to prehistory. At that time, Qingyang was a place where Qiang people were active. The word "Qiang" means "sheep" and "man", and the Qiang people were inextricably linked with sheep. Later to the Song Dynasty, Qingyang County, the north of the city, still with the Qiang Danghang similar - cooked Qiang live in the area of the border, the history of the famous minister Fan Zhongyan know Qingzhou, the defense is Danghang Qiang. For thousands of years, the people of Qingyang have accumulated a wealth of experience in cooking mutton in the course of herding and eating sheep. At the same time, Qingyang County in feudal society has been the government, state, county seat, dignitaries and rich and powerful people, from the outside brought a lot of famous chefs, and improved the technology of cooking mutton, so that Qingyang's mutton steamed buns more flavorful. This is the reason why Qingyang shouting mutton buns better than other places, prestigious.