Xinyuan Mutton 新袁羊肉
Xinyuan Mutton is featured among the local specialties of Jiangsu.
Xinyuan Mutton (新袁羊肉) is the goat mutton of Xinyuan town (新袁镇) in Siyang (泗阳), Suqian (宿迁), Jiangsu. The Yangtse Evening News (扬子晚报), in a feature on Jiangsu's winter mutton, calls Xinyuan a taste landmark for mutton in both Suqian and Huai'an (淮安).
Where it comes from
The meat comes from small-tailed goats that drink the water of Hongze Lake (洪泽湖) and graze on the grasses of the riverbank flats. The paper describes the meat as fresh and tender, without the gamey smell of mutton.
How it is cooked
The dish the paper singles out is "鱼羊鲜" ("fish-and-mutton freshness"): crucian carp and mutton stewed together in one pot until their flavours merge and the broth turns milk-white.
The second local way is mutton braised with suancai, a sour pickle made from local Chinese cabbage. The pickle and the meat cook together, and the result is sour, fragrant and appetite-whetting.
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Cangshu Mutton 藏书羊肉 →
The same Yangtse Evening News winter feature covers Cangshu mutton from Suzhou; Xinyuan's signature pot stews the mutton together with crucian carp.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-25. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.