Hand-Grabbed Lamb of Irresistible Aroma
5 min readHand-grabbed lamb is a special food and a delicacy to entertain guests, popular with the people of Kazak, Uygur, Mongol, Kirgiz, Ta jik and others. They will always serve this course of cuisine on festivals or when guests visit their house. For these people, the most solemn ceremony is to slaughter sheep. Hand-grabbed lamb is indispensable at the banquet, symbolizing etiquette only next to that of roast whole lamb.
It is said that hand-grabbed lamb has a history of nearly a thousand years, gaining the name because of being eaten by grabbing. Shuo Wen Jie Zi interpreted that “Sheep means auspicious”. The Rites of Zhou recorded that “Shepherd is in charge of sheep; whenever there is a sacrifice, people slaughter sheep”. Sheep was deemed as symbol of good luck and important food for sacrifice in ancient times. Li Shizhen wrote in Compendium of Materia Medica that mutton is capable of nourishing the body and curing strain. For women withacold body, mutton is a tonic which is comparable to ginseng and astragalus mongholicus.
Hand-grabbed lamb has a time honored history in Xinjiang, which is much related to theharsh environment and the unique living habit here. The herdsmen often go on a nomadic live for several months without going home, while mutton has the efficacy of keeping satiation for a long day with only one meal.
In the south and north of Mt. Tianshan in Xin jiang, there are lots of water and grass, where the melted ice and snow on the mountains form rivers. Under such circumstances, the quality of mutton in Xinjiang is certainly excellent. The sheep for making hand-grabbed mutton had better be the sheep that is free-range on alkali flats. Mutton like this is green food without taint. Generally, it had better be lamb of 10 to 15 kilograms. The so-called fresh mutton must be mutton from sheep slaughtered just now or on the same day.
In addition to the choice of sheep for making hand-grabbed lamb, what is the most important is the procedure of cooking. People in Xin jiang have a special secret to stew mutton-they always use a knife to separate mutton between bone seams and boil the mutton in large pieces. They will not wash mutton before putting it into a cauldron; they only clean the surface of mutton and get rid of wool and skim bubble floating on the water surface when it is boiling. They believe too much washing will result in nutritious loss, just as much-washed rice will lose nutrition. With regards to the seasoning for stewing hand-grabbed lamb, the most traditional method of many ethnic groups is to add salt, but nothing else. After boiling, they use slow fire for braising, where the surface of the soup only has 2 to 3 boiling points bubbling. Usually, they will stew it for about 1 hour; the mutton braised like this is both tender and tasty with clear marks of cutting on mutton pieces. When chewing mutton with gristle, it sounds crunchy and clear. Another secret tomake hand-grabbed lamb: they don’t add onion when braising mutton, but after the mutton is cooked, they dust cut-up onion evenly on the mutton before serving it. The aroma of mutton and onion diffuses around.
Hand-grabbed lamb is a main course for Xinjiang people to entertain guests. There are rules to follow when eating it: first, people wash their hands before being seated; guests shouldn’t start eating before the host speaks. After a big dish of steaming hot plain-braised mutton is served, the whole room is filled with aroma. People sit around the table after washing their hands, eating happily, and then the room is bustling with noise and excitement immediately. Whenever there are distinguished guests or guests from afar, the host will present the best mutton with bone, called”jiangbasi”, and I-shaped piece of meat from the sheep’s hipbone to them to show respect. And then the others can start eating.
People usually eat fatty mutton when eating hand-grabbed lamb, which is because fatty mutton is delicious and it is bad for the stomach if eaten cold. What is more important, it equals to protecting the gastric wall with fat to eat fatty mutton first, in order to lay a solid foundation for drinking next. That explains why Xinjiang people have healthy stomachs and incomparable drinking capacity as well.
Hand-grabbed lamb in Xinjiang differs in different regions, so does its flavor. If you come to the luxuriant prairie in a good season, no matter whose house it is you go to, you will be warmly welcomed by the unsophisticated and friendly hosts.They will entertain you with hand-grabbed lamb.But do remember that it is impolite to refuse to eat the meat，or it will be deemed as disrespect of the hosts；you shouldn’t gobble down the meat andmake a lot of noise with your mouth.If you are careful，you will find a small knife for cutting mutton，about 15 centimeters long，on the edge of the big delicate dish to hold mutton.This small knife is full of ethnic features，with a decorative pattern carved on its handle.The most famous of its kind is that which is made in Yengisar County，which is extremely sharp.Use the small knife to cut mutton and use a hand to dip mutton slices in salt before eating.Some families will prepare a small dish for guests so that guests can put the cut slices in the small dish.In the dish，you will find something good，onion.In Xin jiang.Onion is called piyaz，usually eaten raw.The onion served with hand-grabbed lamb is only sliced without seasoning in it，as it is the best thing to go with mutton.Onion can not only lower blood fat，but also blood pressure.Xin jiang people like eating meat but seldom develop cardiovascular diseases，so onion contributes a lot to this.
As the saying goes，original soup digests original food.You must have a bowl of mutton soup after eating mutton.Mutton soup is a tonic.The inlanders say Chinese chives can help build people’s body and nourish their organs.The people in Xinjiang may say，”For mutton，women become more beautiful after eating it，and men become more powerful！”
Pay attention to skimming excessive oil when stewing mutton soup and sprinkle some minced onion or caraway.Having it while it’s hot，it’s delicious and you can feel heat filling your chest，as if it really increases your strength.
Hand-grabbed lamb reflects the folk customs in Xinjiang，and reflects the style and character of the people in Xinjiang who like eating big pieces of meat and drinking with big bowls.Xin jiang is rich in products，and the people in Xin jiang are friendly and generous.
Hand-grabbed lamb，this meat-eating method which is simple，unique and full of primitive sense，will remind you of the simple folk customs to the north of the Great Wall.It will excite your brain from time to time，bringing to you reverie，nostalgia，expectation and intoxication，so you will be strongly attracted by the rich prairie，and the friendliness and enthusiasm of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Dear friends, don’t forget to try some hand-grabbed lamb when you come to Xinjiang!
