Yao Rong is a native of Tongxiang, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. She usually works outside and often returns to his hometown only during the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival this year, she returned home with her cousin. When she got home, the smell of braised mutton wafted through the car’s window, with a long aftertaste, even when the car had not stopped. Yao Rong saw an earthen stove set up outside her home. The fire was burning in the earthen stove. The iron pot was covered with pieces of porcelain plates. The dense heat and rich fragrance escaped from the gap of the porcelain plates to welcome the returning people. 

The familiar aroma of mutton, which she had not smelled for a long time, made Yao Rong feel a warm atmosphere. For her, returning to her hometown seemed to wash away the tiredness of working outside for a year. The Spring Festival is the time to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new year. On this day, countless young people like Yao Rong will return to their hometown, and the family can get together to have a round New Year's Eve dinner. This is a long-standing custom of the Chinese people. For Chinese people, New Year's Eve dinner has special significance. It not only symbolizes reunion and kinship but also is a unique cultural heritage.

Tongxiang braised mutton cooked with a stove, firewood and a large pot (Photo/Tongxiang News)

Every region has its own unique customs. In Tongxiang, where Yao Rong lives, mutton lights up the local people's table. Tongxiang people often have a bowl of delicious braised mutton at the New Year's table.

Tongxiang braised mutton is very particular about its ingredients. It must be made from Hu sheep. This kind of mutton is very tender and less fat. Tongxiang braised mutton needs to be cooked all night with a stove, firewood and a large pot. First, it is cooked with high fire, then it is slowly braised with low fire. The temperature depends on the flexibility of the cook. The mutton out of the pot is red, bright and oily, tastes both fresh and sweet, and the meat is crisp but not rotten. The secret of Tongxiang mutton is to add dates, radishes, sugar cane tips and other ingredients to the dishes to remove the smell of mutton and increase the flavour. Diners have different tastes for mutton. They often get up early in the morning and wait for the mutton that has been simmering all night to boil, so that they can have a piece of mutton they like. Yao Rong's favourite part is the three layers of lamb chops. The unique feature of this part is that there is a layer of fragrant oil between the refined meat. Yao Rong likes the strength of the fascia and the crispness of the cartilage in this part, which makes the taste buds bombed and increases the level of chewing. 

Yao Rong said that when she was a child, she looked forward to visiting her relatives' homes every Spring Festival so that she could eat a bowl of braised lamb on the table. When she is a guest in the countryside, large pots are often set up in the open space of the cultural hall in the village to cook mutton. The burning fire marks in the firewood stove reddened the village people's happy faces, and the mutton gurgling with heat enriched people's lives. On the slender village road, the hot air from the iron pot diffused in the winter night, as if it had covered the countryside in northern Zhejiang with a thin layer of gauze, which often made her accelerate her pace unconsciously.

Tongxiang braised mutton (Photo/Tongxiang News)

Tongxiang New Year's Eve dinner serving order is very particular, and the finale is often hoof and fish soup, while braised mutton is in the middle of the feast, just like a symphony to the climax of the middle. For local people in Tongxiang, the quality of braised mutton is the most direct criterion to judge the level of the banquet master.

For Chinese people, what they eat is not only food but also a habit and nostalgia. The Spring Festival is a happy time for Chinese families to reunite and enjoy wine. Pots and pans are filled with the strongest vibe of the New Year and the warmest affection. For Yao Rong, the Spring Festival is also a review and summary of the past, as well as a prospect and wish for future life. The Spring Festival has enabled her to regroup and face the new year with a more positive attitude and full of energy. In this dish of Tongxiang braised mutton, there is not only a deep attachment to the hometown but also a deep expectation for a better life.

Translator: Liao Yiyi

Editor: Ye Ke, Liao Yiyi