Jinchang Hand-Grabbed Mutton 金昌手抓羊肉

Jinchang Hand-Grabbed Mutton (金昌手抓羊肉) is bone-in mutton served in the city of Jinchang (金昌), Gansu, and it takes its name from the way it was originally eaten: by hand. The Jinchang News Network (金昌新闻网) says that if Jinchang people are asked to name a 'hard dish' (硬菜), a substantial centrepiece, hand-grabbed mutton is sure to be one of them.

How it is eaten

For the table, bone-in mutton is chopped into strips about two fingers wide or into chunks and heaped on a large platter. Diners sit around it together and eat the meat in big mouthfuls. The Jinchang News Network says a first taste can feel almost primitive, and that the dish grows on people the more often they eat it.

Flavour and texture

The meat is described as fresh-tasting, neither greasy nor gamey, with good colour and aroma.

Where it comes from

A 2021 Gansu Daily report lists hand-grabbed mutton among the lamb dishes that are local specialities of Jinchang and of the wider Hexi Corridor (河西走廊), and among the main dishes of Jinchang's more than a thousand farm-stay restaurants (农家乐). The same report says that when Jinchang people talk about food they put Yongchang lamb (永昌羊肉) first, meat from Yongchang county (永昌县) in the Qilian Mountains (祁连山) area.