Gang Zi Rou (Enamel Mug Mutton Stew)
Hollow Cup Magic - Desert Nation's Ultimate Lamb Soup
Description
A highly unique street food seen in the bazaars of Xinjiang (especially Kashgar). A retro 'enamel mug' is packed with mutton, yellow carrots, chickpeas, and water. Hundreds of these mugs are lined up directly on a stove and simmered for hours into a profoundly nourishing single-serving mutton stew.
Restaurants serving Gang Zi Rou (Enamel Mug Mutton Stew)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Bone-in mutton
- Yellow carrots
- Chickpeas
- Onion
- Salt
- Water
- (Enamel mug)
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- (Vessel) Prepare a retro 'Enamel Mug with a lid (Gang Zi)'. This acts as the cooking pot.
- (Ingredients) Drop massive, bone-in chunks of fresh mutton (with some fat) directly into the mug.
- Add Xinjiang's special 'yellow carrots' and rehydrated 'chickpeas'.
- Add a touch of onion, salt, and a faint dash of black pepper to erase funk. Do NOT use complex spices; rely purely on natural flavors.
- Flood the mug to the brim with water and cover with the lid.
- [The Cooking Scene]: Line up dozens to hundreds of these mugs directly on a massive charcoal or wood stove iron plate.
- Simmer on low for 2-
- hours. The soup boils inside the mug, the lamb fat melts turning the broth golden, and the meat becomes fall-apart tender. Customers receive the mug straight from the stove.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Pure mutton umami and intense sweetness of yellow carrots、黄色い人参の強烈な甘み
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Boil mutton and carrots with salt in a regular small pot)
Pairing
Naan (Uyghur bread) - to dunk in the soup
Trivia
[Trivia] Originated between the 1950s-70s when nomads repurposed the 'enamel tea mugs' issued by the state to workers, using them as mini-pots to boil mutton. A dish radiating immense history and drama.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Sip the boiling, golden broth directly from the mug. Zero mutton odor—just a premium consommé infused with the sweetness of carrots and chickpeas. The meat is so tender it breaks with a spoon. Dunking hard Uyghur bread (Naan) into the soup is the flawless style.
Allergen
Mutton