Dongshan White Simmered Lamb

Dongshan White Simmered Lamb

　　Dongshan “White Simmered Lamb”

　　A 200-Year-Old Culinary Tradition

　　The cooking technique for Dongshan’s “White Simmered Lamb” has been practiced locally for more than two hundred years. The white sliced lamb, made from authentic local Hu sheep, is served on freshly sun-dried lotus leaves. The meat is tender, snow-white, and velvety, with a delicate and richly savory flavor. Even today, there are still over a dozen households in Dongshan Town that produce white simmered lamb, strictly adhering to traditional methods: using freshly slaughtered Hu sheep, iron pots, hardwood fuel, and slow-simmering for over ten hours.

　　In the kitchen of a “White Simmered Lamb” shop in Dongshan Town, the reporter observed three giant iron pots placed on the mobile cooking stoves used for boiling the lamb—one pot contained lamb, while another held lamb blood. The shop owner explained that each Hu sheep, after being slaughtered and bled, weighs around thirty-plus pounds. Each pot can cook four sheep at a time, along with nearly 300 pounds of broth. After slaughtering and cleaning, the lamb is divided by age—1-year-old, 2-year-old, and 3-year-old—and cooked separately in different pots. “For the first three hours, we use high heat, then it’s followed by over ten hours of slow simmering. Throughout this process, salt is the only seasoning used,” the shop owner said. Freshly slaughtered Hu sheep require no additional seasonings, yet the final lamb has absolutely no gamy taste.

　　After boiling, the lamb is taken out of the pot, deboned, and sliced. It is then placed atop sun-dried lotus leaves, which prevent sticking while imparting the fragrance of the lotus to the meat.