Shipu Lamb

Shipu Lamb

　　Shipu Lamb is a specialty dish from Qiandeng Town, Kunshan City, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. With its unique flavor and high quality, Shipu Lamb from Qiandeng has earned a solid reputation in the Kunshan and Shanghai areas, attracting numerous food enthusiasts.

　　Shipu Lamb has a long history and is highly favored by food lovers. It is recognized as one of the three major lamb brands in Suzhou, alongside Zangshu and Taicang Shuangfeng.

　　In recent years, thanks to its distinctive taste and excellent quality, Shipu Lamb has built a notable reputation in the Kunshan and Shanghai regions, drawing many diners. The lamb used is sourced from locally raised goats, but due to increasing demand and a decline in local herds, most live sheep are now purchased from Chuzhou, Anhui. Each year, buyers raise these out-of-town sheep on a diet of strawberry leaves or corn stalks for about a month before serving, effectively turning “outside sheep” into “local sheep” to ensure top-notch meat quality. Shipu Lamb is known for its firm texture and low fat content, making it especially appealing to local palates.

　　The Whole Lamb Feast of Shipu is a representative of Qiandeng’s — and even Kunshan’s — culinary culture. Unlike the northern style of roasting an entire lamb, this feast features various parts of the sheep, prepared using different cooking methods such as braising, boiling, cold dishes, and stir-frying, resulting in a diverse array of dishes with distinct colors, aromas, flavors, and presentations. The origins of the Shipu Whole Lamb Feast are not clearly documented in reliable historical texts.

　　The cold dishes of the Whole Lamb Feast include sheep’s stomach, liver, heart, eyes, ears, tongue, penis, offal, and sliced boiled lamb. Among them, sliced boiled lamb is a classic signature dish of Shipu Lamb. Cooked without any seasonings, this dish only requires a touch of salt or light soy sauce. The lamb melts in your mouth, completely free of any gamey taste, offering instead a rich, pure flavor that reveals layers of freshness, fragrance, tenderness, and juiciness upon closer tasting. The hot dishes in the feast feature options like stir-fried sheep kidneys, steamed sheep brain, roasted sheep tendons, and braised lamb. The braised lamb, in particular, is tender yet firm, succulent without being greasy. Cooked with skin and bone, the dish is rich with melted fat, exuding an inviting aroma, and delivers a bold, complex flavor. Of course, no feast is complete without a bowl of fragrant, authentic lamb soup. Ideally, the soup includes lamb and blood pudding, generously served in a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. The white lamb, dark brown blood pudding, and thick white broth are topped with a sprinkle of fresh green garlic leaves. The blood pudding is smooth on the palate, the lamb is tender and delicious, and the broth is richly aromatic. Once diners quickly finish the soup, the server will often ask if you’d like a refill. The feast usually reaches its climax with the arrival of a large clay pot of braised lamb leg. This beloved Whole Lamb Feast creatively uses various parts of the sheep, with each dish offering its own unique character and flavor. After indulging in the meal, diners often can’t help but exclaim, “Eating Shipu Lamb is amazing — so satisfying!”

　　In 2011, Shipu Lamb was first introduced to the public through a festival, inviting guests from all over to sample it. This event not only enhanced the dish's visibility and reputation in the Kunshan and Shanghai areas, but also further amplified the brand influence of Shipu Lamb, boosting the development of Qiandeng’s catering and tourism industries. Today, enjoying a Whole Lamb Feast in Qiandeng is no longer limited to Shipu Village Restaurant and Shipu Lamb Restaurant. Over ten hotels, including Shipu Grand Hotel, Yurong International Hotel, Qiandeng Yaoji Grand Hotel, Drunken Immortal Tower, Datang Ecological Park, and Jingu Farmstead, have also launched their own versions of the Whole Lamb Feast or specialty lamb dishes.