As the saying goes, if you eat the winter solstice rice, you will grow taller every day. After the winter solstice, the weather is getting colder and colder, but the days are getting longer and longer. At this time, the yang energy in the human body is flourishing, and it is easiest to absorb external nutrients and exert its nourishing effect. Medicinal supplements are not as good as food supplements. The most common mutton around us is tender and contains protein and rich vitamin . It is easy to digest and has the functions of nourishing the liver and improving eyesight, nourishing blood and warming menstruation. Therefore, in Zhuangxing Town, Fengxian District, which has Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage “mutton wine and food customs”, it is the right time to eat mutton as a tonic in winter.
At 9:30 a.m. on December 22, in the back kitchen of Liji Mutton in Zhuangxing Town, the first pot of mutton that 68-year-old Master Li Jinlong started cooking early in the morning was finally out. The chef uses tools to take out pieces of cooked mutton from the tumbling soup and puts them in the container. The crystal clear color and the unique sweet smell of the mutton make people feel as if they have tasted the tender and delicious taste through the vast water vapor.
"It is especially suitable to eat some mutton during this time, which is good for the body." As the representative inheritor of the "mutton shabu wine eating custom", Master Li also wrote a limerick on the spot: "Eating meat in summer is full of flavor, and drinking soup is warm in winter. With a pot of shaju in hand, the new coronavirus will be gone."
Although the limerick was a joke by the master, the ancients believed that mutton is sweet and hot, which can replenish blood deficiency and replenish the energy of tangible muscles. Nutritious lamb is a popular dish in both winter and summer. In addition to the local hot lamb, there is also braised lamb , which is popular among urban customers. The restaurant owner told reporters that although there are fewer dine-in customers than in previous years, there are more customers asking for group purchases or packing their own meals. Customers take the mutton soup home, and it still tastes original and delicious after being heated.
"Today I bought two kilograms of mutton and a portion of mutton soup." Citizen Mr. Wang came from Pudong early in the morning specifically to buy mutton. He said that today is the winter solstice and it is traditional to eat mutton, and Zhuangxing mutton is very famous throughout Shanghai. "They used to live across the road from there, but now they have moved here. We come here to eat every year and think it tastes good."
"Because the weather is cold now, the mutton is cold when we pack it back. We recommend that you steam it for 5 minutes, so that the mutton tastes better." Li Yingchun, the third generation successor of Li Ji Mutton, suggested that in addition to mutton, you can also pack some mutton soup, which will be more warming during this season. "As for the mutton soup, you can take it back and heat it directly, add a little salt and eat it directly. If there is leftover, you can add some noodles the next day and make a bowl of mutton soup noodles, and you will have breakfast the next day."
Reporter: Fu Xiaoyao Yuan Xuefeng
Editor: Dai Junwen
