Where is the best mutton in the country? After selection, these eight places are all famous. Is there your hometown?

The weather is getting colder and colder, and the cold winter will come soon. When the weather is cold, people especially want to get energy from food, so all kinds of steaming soup or meat dishes have become a great cure for cold weather. Among many meat ingredients, I think mutton is very suitable for eating in autumn and winter.

Li Shizhen, a medical sage in Ming Dynasty, once mentioned mutton in Compendium of Materia Medica. "Mutton can warm and tonify the middle warmer, stimulate appetite and strengthen the body, nourish kidney and qi, benefit gallbladder and improve eyesight, and cure fatigue, cold, five injuries and seven injuries". It can be seen that eating mutton can also resist the cold to a certain extent.

Although everyone is familiar with mutton, there are different opinions about which mutton is the best in China. Next, Lazy Meow will tell you about eight mutton-eating places in China, all of which are famous after selection. Let's take a look at them together. Where are these eight places? Is there your hometown?

Damaoqi, located in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, borders Mongolia in the north, and is also the only border county in Baotou area. There are nearly 1.66 thousand square kilometers of natural grassland and 662 thousand mu of cultivated land here, which has obvious continental climate characteristics and is very suitable for pasture growth and Gobi sheep breeding.

Damao mutton, produced in Damao Banner, Inner Mongolia, belongs to Damao Gobi sheep breed among Mongolian sheep, and is also a symbolic product of chinese national geography. Big wool mutton is bright red or crimson in appearance, dense in meat quality, fat and thin, almost tasteless, and fresh and juicy to eat.

Xilin Gol League, located in the middle of Inner Mongolia, is a subordinate league of Inner Mongolia. As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, there were clan tribes raising livestock here. In the northeast of Xilin Gol League, there is a Ujimuqin grassland with a total area of more than 70,000 square kilometers, where the famous Ujimuqin sheep meat is produced.

Wuzhumuqin sheep meat comes from Wuzhumuqin sheep, which is a famous local specialty and a symbolic product of chinese national geography. Due to the harsh environment on the grassland, Wuzhumuqin sheep, which grew here, was naturally eliminated. It is big, thick and tough, it tastes fat but not greasy, and there is almost no smell of sheep.

Sudong Banner, whose full name is Zuo Qi, Su Nite, is located in the northwest of Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, and 96.7% of its area is grassland. The full name of Suyou Banner is Sunite Right Banner, which is located in the west of Xilin Gol League in Inner Mongolia and adjacent to Sudong Banner in the east. Historically, this is a vast grassland where nomadic people in the north thrive.

Chinese national geography's iconic product, Su Nite mutton, known as "ginseng in meat", is produced in Sudong Banner and Suyou Banner of Inner Mongolia. Su Nite sheep is a kind of Mongolian sheep, which produces more meat, a large proportion of lean meat, less fat, tender meat and delicious taste. It was also a tribute of the imperial court in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Jiuquan is located in the northwest of Gansu Province, which is connected with Inner Mongolia in the east. It is the important town of the Silk Road and the hometown of Dunhuang art. Halten mutton is produced in Aksai, Jiuquan, Gansu Province. It is a very famous local specialty and a symbolic product of China's national geography.

The soil in Aksai is mainly irrigated desert soil and Gobi desert, which is very suitable for raising Kazakh sheep. Halten mutton is a Kazakh sheep raised locally. Harten mutton has moderate fat content and fresh fiber. When cooking, the mutton soup is full of fragrance, and it is also known as "cooking meat inside and outside".

Yanchi, located in the east of Ningxia, is also a very famous border zone between agriculture and nomadic people in history. This place is mainly arid grassland and desert grassland, which is very suitable for breeding Ningxia Tan sheep, animal husbandry based on Tan sheep, and also a local pillar industry.

Chinese national geography's iconic product, Yanchi Tan Sheep, comes from the local Tan Sheep. Due to the special growth environment, Yanchitan mutton has bright red color, low fat content, dense meat fiber and chewiness, and has the unique flavor of Tantan mutton.

Yulin, located in the northernmost part of Shaanxi Province, is a transitional zone between the Loess Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau. Hengshan District, west of northern Yulin, is rich in pasture resources, vast in land area and rich in water resources, which is very suitable for raising sheep. Hengshan mutton, which was rated as the symbol product of chinese national geography, is the white cashmere goat raised here.

Because of the large temperature difference between day and night and many gullies, sheep often need to dig ditches uphill when foraging, and the exercise is relatively large, so the fat content in mutton is low and the muscles are elastic. Hengshan mutton benefits from this special regional feature. It tastes tender, not fat or greasy, full of meat and no fishy smell.

Jingbian is located in the southwest of Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, adjacent to Inner Mongolia in the north, in the upper reaches of the Wuding River, with dry climate, abundant sunshine, rich forage resources and large temperature difference between day and night, which is very suitable for the growth of sheep. Jingbian mutton, which was rated as the symbol product of chinese national geography, is the Jingbian goat that grew here.

The environmental pollution of Jingbian goat growth is less, and the unique climate characteristics of northern Shaanxi make the mutton yield high, fat and thin, the proportion is just right, the meat quality is elastic and delicious. Jingbian mutton was mentioned in Jingbian County Records and Pinzuan during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. "Its fatness is not greasy, but its hospitality."

Shuozhou is located in the north of Shanxi Province, adjacent to Inner Mongolia in the northwest, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the alluvial plain in Sanggan River area in the middle. Youyu County of Shuozhou is known as the "oasis on the frontier", with a forest coverage rate of over 50%. Youyu sheep growing here are mainly grazing naturally. As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, there were records of Youyu sheep.

Youyu mutton, which was rated as a symbol product of chinese national geography, comes from Youyu mutton. Youyu sheep has a large proportion of hind leg meat and shoulder meat, and the fat is evenly distributed on the surface of the meat like marble. The meat is firm and tough, and it won't feel greasy, but it's just right.

Learn from laziness.

The eight places mentioned above, Damaoqi in Inner Mongolia, Xilin Gol League, Dongsuqi/Suyouqi, Jiuquan in Gansu, Yanchi in Ningxia, Yulin in Shaanxi, Jingbian in Shaanxi and Shuozhou in Shanxi, are all very famous mutton producing areas. Damao Mutton, Wuzhumuqin Mutton, Su Nite Mutton, Yanchitan Mutton, Hengshan Mutton, Jingbian Mutton and Youyu Mutton produced in these places are all trademark products of chinese national geography, which can be said to be relatively famous after selection.

The next time you go to eat mutton, if there is no better choice, you might as well consider the mutton produced in these eight places and these eight kinds of mutton that have been rated as the landmark products of chinese national geography. To some extent, they are also symbols of mutton quality.