Ningxia Roast Whole Lamb 宁夏烤全羊

Ningxia Roast Whole Lamb (宁夏烤全羊) is a whole sheep, usually a young one, roasted and served to guests in Ningxia. A feature on Ningxia lamb published by the Fujian Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs calls it the highest courtesy a Ningxia host can offer a visitor, and People's Daily Online lists roast whole lamb in Yanchi County (盐池县) as the dish for welcoming honoured guests.

How it is made

According to the Fujian feature, the usual choice is a young ewe of about 30 jin (15 kg), because a small animal roasts through easily: the skin ends up slightly charred while the meat inside stays tender. The golden skin holds the juices in the meat.

Flavour and texture

The same feature describes the lamb as crisp outside and tender inside, sweet and fragrant, rich without being greasy and with no muttony smell. It is eaten with a little cumin and chilli powder, or with a garlic and vinegar dip.

Where it comes from

Yinchuan Daily, in a report on the city's winter food carried by the Yinchuan (银川) government, lists roast whole lamb among the city's lamb dishes and names "Xianhe roast whole lamb" (仙鹤烤全羊) among the signature dishes of Xianhelou Dumplings (仙鹤楼水饺), a restaurant the paper says has been open for 40 years. In Shizuishan (石嘴山), a rural food route published by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism starts with the roast whole lamb of the Bicaozhou (碧草洲) farm restaurant in Dawukou District (大武口区), and the same feature describes Shizuishan's roast whole lamb as crisp outside and tender inside. People's Daily Online places the dish among dozens of ways of cooking Tan sheep (滩羊) in Yanchi, a county on the old boundary between farming and herding peoples.