Tangxian Sheep Head and Offal Bowl 唐县碗肉

How it is made

The Tang County government describes the dish as sheep head and sheep offal boiled in clear water in a large pot, served with chilli oil (made by pouring hot oil over chilli) and sheep fat. It is known for meat cooked until it falls apart and for a thick broth.

How it is eaten

A pancake of millet flour or cornmeal (煎饼) goes into the bowl and soaks up the broth. The county government describes the dish as filling, good at staving off hunger and convenient, and says it has become the dish locals recommend to visiting friends and the one people from Tang County look for when they come home.

Where it comes from

The county government dates wanrou to the late Qing dynasty. When local people slaughtered sheep, the meat and offal came in such quantity that, apart from what was sold to neighbouring prefectures and counties, most of it was eaten in Tang County itself. That surplus gave the county two dishes: braised mutton (红焖羊肉) and the street-stall bowl of wanrou.

In the Republican era and in the 1950s and 1960s, the county town had more than ten wanrou stalls. The best known belonged to the Tian family at the south gate (南关) and the Jia family at the west gate (西关). Tian Zaoshun (田造顺), a descendant of the Tian family, carries on the family business.

The county lists wanrou as one of its noted local snacks and quotes a local saying: to come to Tang County and not eat wanrou is to have come for nothing.