It's the winter solstice again. Besides dumplings and glutinous rice balls, don't forget the most delicious one! | Micro Food Therapy

Author: Fluent

"Winter Solstice is as important as New Year". After thousands of years of development, Winter Solstice has become one of the most important traditional festivals with its strong humanistic significance and rich forms of celebration. "Eating" is a major theme of Chinese festivals. From the beginning of winter, life activities begin to change from decline to prosperity, from static to dynamic. Therefore, there is also a saying that the winter solstice is the beginning of winter tonic.

Different places have different customs during the winter solstice. The ancients celebrated the winter solstice, and although most people today do not consider it a festival, the winter solstice is still one of the "eight festivals of the year". Foodies will not miss this festival with various winter solstice specialties. Nowadays, there are different festival food cultures across the country. If you ask what to eat during the winter solstice, the most common answer is probably "dumplings" and "glutinous rice balls".

In fact, there is another kind of food that is especially available during the winter solstice or in winter. It can be used to cook dishes or stew soups and is nutritious and delicious. That is mutton. The custom of eating mutton during the winter solstice is said to have started in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, ate mutton cooked by Fan Kuai on the day of the winter solstice and found it particularly delicious. He praised it highly, and since then, the custom of eating mutton during the winter solstice has been formed among the people. Some regions focus on white and thick mutton soup, some places focus on soft, glutinous and fragrant braised mutton, and some places prefer to boil or grill mutton.

In Jiangsu, south of the Yangtze River, the real sense of ritual in winter comes from the roadside Cangshu mutton. The word "Zangshu" does not mean that there are books hidden in the mutton, but refers to Cangshu Town in the west of Suzhou. Cangshu mutton is also the most familiar mutton dish in our free shipping area. White roasting is simple and pure. Cut the mutton into large pieces and stew it for several hours without adding any spices. The mutton made in this way is crispy but not mushy. Red roasting is fat and not greasy. The mutton is stewed with rice wine, soy sauce and rock sugar. The color is bright red, the taste is soft and sticky, and the sauce is fragrant with a hint of sweetness.

Another way to cook mutton is to cook it in white. Goats with the right fat-to-lean ratio and the right tenderness are selected. Put the mutton into the pot with water, pour the thick soup after it is cooked, wrap it with cooked sheepskin and put it in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat, take it out and cook it in white. It has a chewy texture and is very tender. It is served with a little chili sauce and a bowl of mutton soup. Sometimes, you also need to add a bowl of noodles cooked in mutton soup. Add some garlic leaves to the milky white mutton soup, and this feast will be ready for winter.
In this issue of Micro Diet Therapy, I will share with you a traditional braised lamb recipe. Why not try making it when winter comes?

[ Braised Lamb ]

Ingredients: 1500g mutton, half a white radish, cooking wine, bay leaves, ginger, onion, cinnamon, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, salt, chicken essence, dried chili peppers, star anise, garlic, peppercorns, and cardamom.

**Method:**Put the mutton in cold water and add a few peppercorns

Cut half a white radish into pieces

Add ginger, cooking wine, and green onion

After boiling, blanch for 5 minutes.

Rinse and drain

Heat the pan with cold oil, add onion, ginger, garlic, star anise, pepper, chili, cinnamon, and cardamom and fry over low heat until fragrant.

Add the mutton and stir-fry for 3 minutes, then add cooking wine, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce and stir well

Change the casserole, add green onion knots and a little sugar

Add water to cover the mutton and radish and bring to a boil

Simmer on low heat for about 1 hour until the mutton is tender, add salt and chicken essence to taste