Lanxi Beef Offal Stew

Lanxi Beef Offal Stew

　　Lanxi Beef Offal Stew

　　　Lanxi is the breadbasket of Yiyang and a small riverside cattle market. After each autumn harvest, farmers bring their retired plow oxen to town for slaughtering and trading. The prime cuts are sent to cities for sale, while most of the offal is kept to be processed and eaten at home. Years of practice have given the people of Lanxi exceptional skill in cooking and preparing beef offal. Different parts such as intestines, stomach, heart, lungs, bull penis, and tendons are cooked using various methods—stir-frying, boiling, stewing, braising—to create a richly aromatic and delicious offal hotpot. As early as the Ming and Qing dynasties, Lanxi Beef Offal Stew had already earned fame across the water towns and praise around Dongting Lake.

　　The way to enjoy Lanxi beef offal is to “boil the intestines, stomach, heart, and lungs together in one pot, and braise the bull penis and tendons in another,” hence the name “Lanxi Beef Offal Stew.” When serving, guests sit around a low table placed in the center, which has a hole in the middle. Under the hole is a coal stove, and on top sits a hot pot. The stewed beef offal is poured into the hot pot and simmered over the fire. A few side dishes—such as pig’s blood, sweet potato starch, yellow greens, and leafy vegetables—are served alongside to cook in the hot pot. When most of the offal is eaten and the broth becomes rich and flavorful, the side ingredients are added one by one. Eating and chatting by the steaming pot offers an experience full of rustic charm.