Right Yu Lamb Offal Stew

Right Yu Lamb Offal Stew

　　Lamb offal stew is a local snack from Right Yu County. Legend has it that the people of Shanxi began eating this Shanxi specialty during the Yuan Dynasty, and the name "Za Ge" (offal stew) was bestowed by Kublai Khan’s mother. When Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, marched from Shanxi into the Central Plains, his mother, Empress Dowager Zhuangsheng, fell ill while passing through Quwo County. The renowned local physician Xu Guozhen cured her, earning her trust and becoming her favored imperial physician. Xu’s mother, Lady Han, was an excellent cook and accompanied her son in serving the Empress Dowager. Seeing that the Mongols wasted the internal organs of lamb after eating the meat, Lady Han found it a pity. She collected the offal, cleaned it, boiled it, and served it with scallions and chili peppers — the taste turned out to be delicious. The Empress Dowager praised it highly and named it “Lamb Offal Curry.” From then on, Shanxi’s lamb offal stew gradually spread and became a popular folk snack.

　　 Different regions in Shanxi have different names and ways of preparing lamb offal stew. There are three major regional styles: southern (represented by Quwo), central (represented by Taiyuan), and northern (represented by Datong). Southern-style stew (Quwo) emphasizes slow simmering in water to produce a rich, original broth with a milky white color and mellow flavor. The preparation generally involves four meticulous steps: cleaning, boiling, chopping, and combining with broth. The central-style (Taiyuan) stew includes a fuller selection of ingredients, with scallions, ginger, and coriander added during boiling and broth mixing, and sometimes vermicelli or tofu for extra flavor. The northern-style (Datong) is more rustic in both preparation and presentation — a large pot is set over a fire, with meat and broth cooked together in one go, served casually without strict formality.

　　 Shops selling lamb offal stew in Shanxi also have their own distinctive style. Typically, each shop has a large pot simmering over a flame, containing a base broth and pre-prepared lamb offal all ready to cook. When a customer arrives, the owner will ask how many "liang" (a traditional Chinese unit of weight) of lamb offal stew you’d like — meaning how many liang of meat you want, with the price determined by the amount of meat. Don’t assume the stew is all meat; it always comes with vermicelli. Each shop’s broth and seasoning mix differs, resulting in unique flavors. But overall, it’s similar to lamb soup, though the offal stew has the edge — it’s more aromatic, flavorful, and richer in oil.