Sheep Offal Stew

Sheep Offal Stew

　　Sheep offal stew is a local snack from Shanxi Province. Legend has it that the people of Shanxi began eating this dish during the Yuan Dynasty, and the name "杂割" (zāgē) was bestowed by Kublai Khan’s mother. When Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, marched from Shanxi into Central China, he passed through Quwo County. His mother, Empress Dowager Zhao Sheng, fell ill, but was cured by Xu Guozhen, a renowned local doctor from Quwo, who then became a trusted imperial physician to the empress dowager. Xu’s mother, Lady Han, was skilled in cooking and accompanied her son in serving the empress dowager. Seeing that the Mongols wasted the offal after eating the mutton, she found it a pity, so she collected the offal, cleaned it, boiled it, and served it with scallions and chili peppers. The taste was delicious. The empress dowager praised it highly and named it “sheep offal stew” (“羊杂酪”). From then on, it gradually spread and became a popular folk snack.

　　Sheep offal stew is known by different names and prepared differently across various regions of Shanxi. There are three major regional styles: southern (represented by Quwo), central (represented by Taiyuan), and northern (represented by Datong). Southern-style sheep offal stew (Quwo) emphasizes slow simmering in water to preserve the original flavor and broth, resulting in a milky white soup with a rich aroma. The preparation generally involves four meticulous steps: cleaning, boiling, chopping, and combining with broth. The central style (Taiyuan) uses a more complete assortment of ingredients, and both the boiling and broth-mixing stages include scallions, ginger, and cilantro. Some versions also add vermicelli and tofu, offering a unique flavor. The northern style (Datong) is more rustic in both preparation and presentation—ingredients and broth are cooked together in a large pot, served as-is, and eaten casually without strict formality.