Zhejiang Cuisine · FFET10241
Red-braised lamb
Lamb pieces braised slowly in soy sauce and sugar, eaten before Lunar New Year in Linping, Hangzhou, and a winter home dish in Fengxian, Shanghai.
A white porcelain plate holds lamb pieces coated in a glossy dark brown sauce, with scallion, ginger slices, dried red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns among the meat, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
The regional cooking of Zhejiang, with Hangzhou attentive to the season and Ningbo skilled with seafood.
Red-braised lamb is lamb cut into pieces, blanched or soaked and skimmed, then braised slowly with soy sauce, sugar and wine. A 2024 account describes the Jiangnan version in Linping, Hangzhou, where Hu sheep are used and eating it before Lunar New Year is a local custom; a 2023 account describes it as a winter home dish in Fengxian, Shanghai. No dated text for the dish was found.
What
Red-braised lamb is lamb (ribs, leg or stew meat) cut into pieces, blanched or soaked and skimmed, colored with sugar and soy sauce, and braised slowly with wine or water until tender. Cooks make it in different ways.1,2,3,4,5
When
Lamb eating began in the north. After the Southern Song moved the capital to Lin'an, northern sheep were brought to the Taihu area and bred into Hu sheep, which the Linping version uses. This 2024 account cites no historical source and concerns the sheep, so it cannot date the dish; no dated text for the dish was found. Eating red-braised lamb before Lunar New Year is a local custom in Linping.1,3
Where
In Linping, Hangzhou, red-braised lamb uses Hu sheep and is a Jiangnan dish; in Fengxian, Shanghai, it is a winter home dish. The author of the first recipe grew up in northern China eating their grandmother's red-braised lamb. The name is used in all these places, and the methods differ.1,2,3,4
How
In Linping, meat from Hu sheep about 2 years old is soaked in cold water for 15 minutes, simmered with the foam skimmed off, seasoned with yellow wine, MSG, light and dark soy sauce and sugar, and simmered about 3 more hours; sugarcane was once used for sweetness. In Fengxian, ribs or leg are cut up and blanched, colored with caramelized sugar, and braised in a casserole for over 3 hours or in a pressure cooker for about 0.5 hours, often with white radish, rock sugar and red dates. The first recipe uses its author's northern home method: sear the lamb, add water and Shaoxing wine, skim the foam and braise, then add soy sauce and rock sugar and reduce the sauce with the lid off.1,2,3,4
Why
Red-braised lamb is a winter tonic dish, and eating it before Lunar New Year is a Linping custom. The available material does not explain these customs, and this entry does not guess.1,2,3
Impact and influence
In Linping, red-braised lamb is a seasonal local custom, with accounts mentioning the local restaurant Tabudang and its founder Yang Yingdi.1,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home. It is not the Hu sheep method of Hangzhou or the Shanghai method. I drew on two English-language published recipes, both by named authors. The first is the author's northern home version from her grandmother, and the amounts and steps mostly follow it, with the cups converted to milliliters. The second is the author's adaptation of a different dish, hong men yang rou, using a whole leg; I read it for comparison and did not follow it. The size of the pieces and how I tell when the lamb is tender are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- Lamb stew meat or leg, cut into pieces about 4 cm square 900 g
- Vegetable oil 1 tablespoon
- Scallions, cut into sections 4
- Ginger slices 4
- Dried chilies 2
- Sichuan peppercorns 1/4 teaspoon
- Water about 1.4 liters
- Shaoxing wine 60 ml
- Light soy sauce 4 tablespoons
- Dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon
- Rock sugar 1 tablespoon
- Salt 1/4 teaspoon
Steps
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and sear the lamb pieces until the outsides change color.
- Add the scallions, ginger, dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and fry until fragrant.
- Pour in the water and Shaoxing wine, bring to a boil and skim off the foam. The first recipe skims for 10 to 15 minutes; I skim until the surface is mostly clear.
- Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, the time the first recipe gives.
- Add the light and dark soy sauce, rock sugar and salt and simmer 30 to 40 minutes more, the first recipe's timing. I pierce the largest piece with a chopstick and take it off the heat only when it goes through easily and shows no pink; if it is not tender enough I simmer longer. The lamb must be cooked through.
- Uncover and reduce the sauce over medium heat for about 20 minutes, the first recipe's timing, turning the pieces now and then, and turn off the heat when the sauce is thick and coats the lamb.
Tips
- I like pieces with a little fat, which in my pot stay less dry after the long braise.
- While the sauce reduces I stay by the pot and turn the pieces often so the sugar does not scorch on the bottom.
Allergens: soy, wheat