Tashi Fragrant Goat Offal Stew

Tashi Fragrant Goat Offal Stew

　　Rongjiang County in Qiandongnan Prefecture is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Duliu River. To the south lies the dense and pristine Moon Mountain, while to the north rises the towering and cloud-piercing Leigong Mountain. The area is home to 15 ethnic minorities, including the Dong, Miao, Shui, and Yao peoples, who make up 84.2% of the total population. It is a prime destination for eco-tourism and ethnic cultural experiences. One of the distinctive local cuisines here is the Tashi Fragrant Goat Offal Stew from Rongjiang, Guizhou. Known locally as "yangbie," this dish is often referred to as a "hundred-herb remedy." It is a beloved delicacy among the ethnic minorities in Rongjiang. Whenever you visit as a guest, the hospitable locals will serve this iconic dish—rich in nutrition, refreshing, aid digestion, and stimulate appetite—as a special treat.

　　The lamb used in Rongjiang Tashi Fragrant Goat Offal Stew comes from the Tashi Fragrant Goat, a renowned local mountain goat breed. These goats have been naturally selected and bred over time in a pristine ecological environment. They are early-maturing, highly disease-resistant, adaptable, prolific, able to thrive on coarse forage, have a mild gamey taste, and offer delicious meat. The goats are raised in an extensive system with a diverse diet. They mainly graze freely in the wild, feeding on various grasses and plant leaves until they are full, with minimal winter supplementation of fodder. Clean water and some salt are ensured daily. Tashi Township in Rongjiang County is located at the southern foot of the main peak of Leigong Mountain, with an average elevation of 1,065 meters. The area boasts beautiful scenery and abundant forage resources, making it an ideal base for breeding and conserving the Fragrant Goat, as well as raising commercial goats. In 1988, experts from provincial authorities visited and recognized the Tashi Fragrant Goat breed, earning the region the title "Home of the Fragrant Goat." The signature ethnic dish "Tashi Fragrant Goat Offal Stew from Rongjiang, Guizhou," made using these goats, has won widespread acclaim among tourists for its unique preparation technique and flavor. In recent years, it has spread from Rongjiang to Kaili, Guiyang, Sichuan, Guangdong, and beyond.

　　The preparation of goat offal stew is highly meticulous, involving several key steps: slaughtering and deboning the goat, extracting the "offal juice," and cooking the stew.

　　1. Slaughtering and Deboning. Some say that while lamb tastes good, its gamey smell can be off-putting—but Tashi lamb is the exception. Its meat is not only tender but also free of any strong odor, offering a fresh and savory flavor. This is because Tashi butchers perform a deodorizing process during slaughter. After killing the goat, they make small incisions behind the horns and between the toes to release the gamey scent from inside the body—a practice locals call "releasing the goat’s stench."

　　2. Extracting the Offal Juice. Before slaughtering, the goat is allowed to graze freely in the fields or mountains, eating a large quantity of fresh grass and leaves. About half an hour after the goat has thoroughly chewed the plants, it is slaughtered to ensure the extracted offal juice is fresh. The stomach is then opened, and the partially digested plant matter—still undigested into feces—is carefully removed. This “essence” is wrapped in gauze, soaked and filtered with 45-degree corn liquor, and squeezed to extract a vivid green juice. This is the "offal juice." The juice is then boiled in a high-heat pot while being repeatedly filtered through loofah to remove all plant residues. After thirty minutes, it is filtered again through gauze to remove any remaining solids and set aside. Goats eat a wide variety of plants—from grass and leaves to those growing on cliffs and in remote corners—making their meat more nutritious than beef. A local saying goes: “Chickens eat a hundred insects, the medicine is in their brains; goats eat a hundred herbs, the medicine is in their stomachs.” That small sac at the end of the intestines is where the essence of all the herbs the live goat consumes is stored. Regular consumption of goat offal stew is like taking a herbal remedy, believed to boost immunity and improve overall health.

　　3. There are two ways to cook and serve the goat offal stew: stir-fried or in a soup. An essential seasoning is “chuiyouzi,” which is dried, crushed into powder, and added during cooking. “Chuiyouzi” is actually a traditional Chinese medicinal herb known as Evodia rutaecarpa. It has a strong aromatic scent, a spicy and bitter taste, and offers benefits such as dispelling cold and pain, reducing nausea, warming the body, relieving diarrhea, and preventing digestive ulcers. Including it in the stew adds a therapeutic dimension to the dish.

　　1. Stir-Fried Offal Stew. Fresh goat meat and offal are sliced on a cutting board, typically with more offal than meat. A small amount of cooking oil is heated in a high-temperature wok until it smokes, then the sliced meat and offal are added and stir-fried until dry before being scooped out. The wok is cleaned, more oil is added and heated until smoking, followed by dried chili peppers, ginger slices, garlic slices, and kaempferia slices, which are stir-fried until golden brown. Then, the pre-fried meat is added and stir-fried for two and a half minutes until semi-cooked. A suitable amount of high-proof corn liquor is added as cooking wine and stirred for two minutes. Next, seasonings such as chuiyouzi, Sichuan peppercorns, dried tangerine peel, salt, monosodium glutamate, and soy sauce are added and stir-fried until well blended. Then, a portion of the prepared offal juice is added and stirred until the flavors meld. The dish is scooped out onto a plate, garnished with fresh herbs like parsley, garlic, and mint. It is then served in a hotpot and simmered on an induction cooker. The flavor is bitter, cooling, and slightly sweet. If it's not bitter enough during serving, additional offal juice can be added for extra flavor.

　　2. Soup Offal Stew. First, prepare the hotpot broth by adding boiled and mashed chili paste, garlic slices, ginger slices, dried tangerine peel, salt, and monosodium glutamate to the offal juice. Bring the stew broth to a boil in a pot, then scoop it out. Next, slice the goat meat and place it in a large bowl, mixing it with chuiyouzi, Sichuan peppercorns, parsley, garlic, and other seasonings. Serve it in a hotpot using an induction cooker. The unique aroma of the goat offal stew is incredibly appetizing. It has a mildly bitter taste but is refreshing and cooling. It also helps treat diarrhea, stomach pain, clears heat, and aids digestion. If you visit Rongjiang without trying the Tashi Fragrant Goat, it would truly be a missed opportunity.