Yunxi Matou Goat Soup 郧西马头羊汤
Yunxi Matou Goat Soup is featured among the local specialties of Hubei.
Yunxi Matou Goat Soup (郧西马头羊汤) is a goat soup from Yunxi County (郧西县) in Shiyan (十堰), Hubei, made with the Matou goat (马头羊). The Shiyan Culture and Tourism Bureau lists it as a speciality of Yunxi.
Ingredients
The Matou goat, literally the "horse-head goat", lives in the mountains on the southern flank of the Qinling (秦岭) range in north-western Hubei, above 800 metres. Locally it is also called the "无角山羊" (hornless goat) and the "葫芦头山羊" (gourd-head goat). The bureau describes its meat as fine and tender with no muttony smell, high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, and calls it a true mountain delicacy of Yunxi.
How it is eaten
In the bureau's menu for a Shiyan welcome banquet, written for runners and families visiting the 2025 Shiyan Marathon, the soup course is Yunxi Matou Goat Soup or Zhuxi steamed pot (竹溪蒸盆), both of which it calls soups with the most local character in Shiyan. It says a banquet without soup falls short of how guests should be received, and describes the goat broth as savoury and nourishing.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-25. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- Reference photo of a similar dish · 同类菜品参考照片A similar preparation is pictured; the local version may differ. 同类菜品参考照片，当地做法可能不同。Photo: Peachyeung316 · CC BY-SA 4.0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
