🐑 Lamb as a Warming Food

I hope you aren't snowed in too bad!

A few weeks ago we talked about Zhang Zhongjing using dumplings filled with lamb to treat frostbitten ears.

This time, let's talk about a few more ways you can use lamb to keep warm this winter...

Lamb as a Warming Food

Lamb is a warming food (some sources will even say hot in temperature), so it's best eaten during the cold winter months in order to stay warm.

And lamb is good for tonifying qi, blood, and yang.

(I seem to remember somebody saying the beef is better for tonifying blood, and lamb is better for tonifying yang. But now I can't find a source for that...)

The Jin Gui Yao Lue even lists Mutton Stew with Tangkeui and Ginger as a food remedy for postpartum pain or hernia pain due to cold. ❄️

Heating, sweet, and acrid in nature, mutton strongly tonifies the fire at the gate of vitality, nourishes the blood, and augments the qi.

• Bensky

So mutton (or lamb) is a good way to ward off cold.

Lamb vs. Mutton

In the textbooks, you'll often see 羊肉 yáng ròu translated as "mutton."

Now I'll be honest, I don't know a whole lot about different types of meat. But apparently in modern usage, "lamb" comes from younger sheep, and "mutton" comes from older sheep.

(Apparently some places also use the term hogget for sheep in their second year.)

And in some places, mutton can also refer to goat meat. 🐐

(I think in Chinese, 羊 can mean either sheep or goat. I know India has a lot of goats, but I don't know which is more common in China.)

But at least at my grocery store, all they have is lamb, so I'm going to assume that that's close enough.

(I'm sure the New Zealand people will correct me here.)

Warming Lamb Stew

Last year, I sent out a recipe for Warming Lamb Stew.

This recipe is similar to a beef stew, except that is uses lamb instead of beef and hard cider instead of wine.

It also includes a lot of warming ingredients like ginger, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon, so it's a great dish to have when you're trying to keep warm.

👉 Click here to view the Warming Lamb Stew recipe.

Silver-Wrapped Lamb with Sichuan Peppercorn

If you're not into stew, Ancient Wisdom Modern Kitchen has a recipe for lamb chops wrapped in foil and cooked in the oven.

You basically take some lamb chops, then sprinkle on Chinese herbs like tangerine peel (chen pi), Sichuan peppercorn (hua jiao), star anise (ba jiao), garlic (da suan), and ginger (sheng jiang).

Add some soy sauce, wrap it in foil, and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium-sized piece of dried tangerine peel (chen pi)
• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs lamb chops
• 1 piece of fresh ginger (about 1/2")
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp sichuan peppercorn, ground
• 1-2 tsp ground star anise
• 1 T soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Soak the tangerine peel in warm water for about 15 minute to rehydrate. Toss the water and dice the peel. (You can also usually get orange peel from the spice aisle at a regular grocery store.)

Place each lamb piece on a separate sheet of aluminum foil. Put all the other ingredients on top, evenly distributing them.

Wrap the foil to make a sealed packet, and place in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes until cooked through.

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• Sichuan Peppercorn (hua jiao) is from the Warm the Interior category. It warms the interior (and kills parasites).
• Star Anise is called ba jiao (because it has eight points) or da hui xiang. You may remember that we learn xiao hui xiang (fennel) from the Warm the Interior category. Star anise is also called da hui xiang (big instead of small) and has a similar flavor.
• Tangerine peel (chen pi) is warm and also regulates middle-jiao qi, so it can help digestion and prevent the food from getting stuck.
• Garlic (da suan) and Ginger (sheng jiang) are also warming.​

When I did this, I just got whole Sichuan peppercorn and whole star anise and then ground them using a coffee grinder.

But, be careful not to use too much Sichuan peppercorn. I just dumped a whole bunch in (because more is better, right?), and then my mouth was numb and tingly the entire night.

So give this a try if you feel like having something warm. I'll be honest, I think I kind of just like searing lamb chops the normal French way, but this was fun to try.