After visiting the former residence of a man that changed modern China history, I was famished and let my nose picked this mutton soup eatery in a humble looking shop in an alley just a stone throw away.
The shop was nothing fancy; some wooden tables inside a very small shophouse with a room at the back also packed with tables and chairs. In a good day, the tables and chairs will spill into the alleyway.
It was called yangxun 羊臐 during the Zhou and Qin dynasties. The current form of mutton soup 水盆羊肉 existed since the Ming dynasty Chongzhen period (1628-44), and Chengcheng County 澄城 is where it all started. The characteristics of this particular mutton soup are clear soup, and the ingredients are combined separately.
I ordered their 优质水盆羊肉 Superior Mutton Soup, which used a better cut of the mutton among the ingredients. You can choose a fatter or leaner cut, and the best is to get the half-and-half. I also asked of a portion of mixed mutton offals to be added into the soup.
These bowls of hot soup are traditionally accompanied by some 月牙烧饼 moon-shaped flatbread. They are like pitas, with a hollow pocket to let you pack the meat and other ingredients into the bread.
The locals will eat the mutton soup accompanied by fresh or candied garlic. It’s an acquired taste, but it does push the flavours of the ingredients to the front.
The mutton was deliciously tender and despite hours of boiling in the stock remained juicy.
And the extra portion of mutton offals in my opinion was the highlight of the soup. Especially the livers and kidneys, they were cleaned thoroughly. All these offals were of different texture so they brought the soup to live.
粉丝 Vermicelli is usually not added to the Chengcheng version, but due to popular demand there are usually portions of these served these days.
This eatery provided some pickled vegetables that you can take as much as you like it. They were perfect if you like your mutton more robust and flavourful.
I stumbled into this wonderful eatery by chance and that’s the beauty of travel. Sometime you will find a gem when you take a chance. BTW, the residence of the famous guy was 张学良 Zhang Xueliang, the general that kidnapped Chiang Kaishek and changed the course of China history.
Wangyan Mingsheng Mutton Soup 王豔明盛水盆羊肉
西安建國二巷39號
Tel : +86 13402953052
Visited Mar 2024
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