Chapter 17 hunting sheep

Although we have been clearly told: "Horses, cattle and sheep, chickens, dogs and hogs, these six animals are raised by people." Although important concepts such as "beauty", "freshness" and "auspicious" in Chinese culture are all related to sheep, I still find that, Although the Han people also herd sheep, they don't like to eat sheep very much, or in other words, they have never been motivated to eat mutton. Among the famous dishes of the Han nationality in various places, mutton is the main dish, which is really rare.Although the mutton of Han residents in the Northwest, Northeast and North China is more abundant than that in the Central Plains and the southeast coast, it is mainly influenced by the diet of ethnic minorities.Statistics show that China currently has about 200 million sheep and is a major sheep-producing country in the world. However, the development of mutton sheep for food is very backward. At present, the domestic per capita mutton is less than 2.5 kilograms, which is vastly inferior to other meats. Others (the total amount of meat per capita is 45 kilograms, including chicken, duck, goose, pig, cattle, and sheep).

At the same time, there is a huge gap between China's sheep raising industry and the world's advanced level. The average weight of goats is only 11 kilograms, which is the second last in the world. Greatness is the last word. At the same time, our comprehensive development of sheep, such as wool, leather and even sheep placenta, is also lackluster, so that we often think in our hearts, that being the case, "herding" to dry birds, except for the lonely shepherd of a famous shepherd in history Aside from the fact that the figure can still be used as a moral model of loyalty, even the brush is rarely used.

China is not an orphan of Asia when it comes to sheep, and Japan is even worse. Although the country has a snack called "yokan", it has nothing to do with sheep.According to Haruki Murakami, there must have been no sheep in Japan until the end of the Shogunate.He wrote in: "Even today, Japanese people's understanding of sheep is extremely superficial. In short, from a historical point of view, the animal sheep has never had a relationship with the Japanese at the level of life. Sheep has been used by the country from The United States imported, raised, and abandoned them. This is sheep. After the war, wool and mutton were freely imported between Australia and New Zealand, so it was almost unprofitable to raise sheep in Japan. I don’t think sheep are pitiful enough, saying Come on, this is Japanese modernity itself.”

Anyone who has played "Age of Empires" knows that no matter you are a Viking, a Mongol, a Chinese, a Japanese or a British, in the initial dark age, you must mobilize your male and female tribesmen to hunt and slaughter sheep diligently , Only by doing this can we not fall behind, be beaten, or be expelled from the "ball membership", and everything will flourish step by step. Of course, this is just a game. If you were a persistent player representing "China" who was 100% loyal to the original historical works, would you not catch the docile sheep and organize people to round up those ferocious wild boars?In fact, at the very least, the prosperity of the Han nationality in terms of population and the upgrading of the organizational system, in addition to pork, of course, cannot do without mutton, but the focus of our work on sheep has been heavily tilted in research and development for thousands of years It is based on the solution of "how to not waste mutton and avoid various hazards caused by eating mutton in the case of insufficient meat".

From the general law of social evolution, a nation's specific food choices, that is, what to eat and what not to eat, are related to the nutritional status and ecological environment of humans in that nation during the hunting and gathering period.However, in the case of the Han people, there are additional philosophical considerations about what to eat and what not to eat.Corresponding to the principles of yin and yang and the five elements, mutton belongs to fire among the five elements, the center of the five internal organs, red in five colors, bitter in five flavors, and burnt in five smells.All in all, sheep seem to be docile, but their meat is an extremely hot and dangerous food.

Therefore, it is usually not chefs but doctors who are devoted to the development of mutton in Chinese history.Sun Simiao is the most researched on mutton. He believes that if used properly, it can greatly invigorate qi and blood, warm the middle and eliminate internal organs, nourish the body and eliminate evil.Let's take a look at the recipe of a dose of "mutton soup" prescribed by Dr. Sun: mutton, Yunling, Beiqi, dried ginger, licorice, lovage, osmanthus, ginseng, Ophiopogon japonicus, rehmannia glutinosa, and jujube.Indications for postpartum and post-illness of women with upper gas abdominal pain, large deficiency of qi and blood, slight wind evil and cannot be dispersed.

I can guarantee that if a woman drinks this bowl of extremely bitter ancient recipe Laohuo mutton soup, her hatred for mutton will outweigh her pain for herself. Of course, adult men may not think so.Traditional Chinese medicine points out that if those "virtuous people" among men eat mutton in winter, they can often receive a strong aphrodisiac effect, which can be seen immediately. The cautious attitude towards mutton in the food culture of the Han nationality is mainly due to the "sweet nature and great heat" of mutton ().Especially for the vast number of carnivores in the Lingnan area, mutton is easy to get angry when you eat it. Once you get angry, not only bad breath, devastated, or worse, it will lead to many diseases.

Not only the Chinese, but the British who love mutton also understood the truth of hot mutton in the Victorian era at the latest. Portruccio in "The Taming of the Shrew" said to his wife: "I tell you, Cade, it has been burnt; besides, the doctor once specifically told me not to touch the mutton; because eating it hurts the spleen and stomach. It makes people grumpy. We both have grumpy tempers, so let's go hungry and don't eat this burnt meat." Knowing is one thing, eating or not is another.Although it has not been scientifically proven, I still believe that while mutton is "hot", it also brings blood to the eater.The goat-eaters in Northwest and Northeast China are not only far superior in physique and physical strength to the people in the Central Plains and southeast coastal areas who eat grains as their staple food, but they are also much more aggressive in character.

In Japan, because the "meat ban" lasted for 1,200 years, before the Meiji five years, the Japanese did not eat mutton. However, Japan suddenly became vigorous after the Meiji Restoration, and even called Pearl Harbor "Tiger" once, not because they ate "sheep, sheep and sheep", but collectively ate beef that is as "bloody" as mutton. The irascible person is like the black whirlwind Li Kui, and he is even more desperate to eat mutton. See the thirty-seventh chapter "Timely rain will meet the spirit of the Taibao, and the black whirlwind spreads the white stripes": Song Jiang was very happy when he saw Li Kui and Dai Zong , So I went to the "Pipa Pavilion Tavern" at the head of the Xunyang River to make a meal.After a few cups, Song Jiang thought that "it's best to sober up with some spicy fish soup" at this moment.When the fish soup came, Li Kui first picked up the fish soup and the salted fish in the soup that his brother in the Northern Song Dynasty thought was "really not very good" and "chewed the bones and ate it", and then told the man who claimed that "only sells mutton, but "No beef," the bartender said angrily, "I'm so rude, bullying me to only eat beef, not selling mutton for me to eat!" Twist the fingers, and ate all the three catties of mutton."

Li Kui is a rough man, but this does not seem to prevent him from becoming a gourmet. He seems to know a little bit of calligraphy. It is obvious that fish and sheep are equal to the word "fresh". In addition to the heat, the most disliked thing about mutton is the strong smell of mutton.In the Shanghai dialect, this kind of meal smell is even called "sheep smell smelly". In the era when the supply of meat was not sufficient, mutton was still eaten despite the smell, even if you pinched your nose.At the same time, people who are shy have never stopped fighting against the smell.The earliest method of removing shame, according to "Lu Shi Chunqiu": "Fire is the discipline, sometimes sick and sometimes slow, to remove smell and smell, it must be used to win."

As a big sheep-eating country in the East, Indians are also afraid of sheep.The invention of curry is said to be a by-product of the research and development of the "smell removal method".According to Buddhist legends, because Buddhism is prevalent in India, pigs are not eaten because of their "filthiness", and because cows are the mount of Sakyamuni Buddha and cannot be eaten, mutton (and chicken) have almost become the main meat.But the mutton is fishy and difficult to cook, so I can't eat it for a while.When Sakyamuni Buddha learned of this, he felt very sympathetic, so he taught people to use fragrant and spicy trees, bark and grass roots to prepare mutton; when people ate these conditioned mutton, they couldn't help shouting "kuri " (the meaning of "extreme beauty" or "first-class stick" in Indian language), this is the origin of curry (curry). Although the Chinese, who are more afraid of sheep's smell than Indians, did not invent curry, we have firmly in our hands the traditional Chinese medicine that is also picked from trees, fruits, bark and grass.Unfortunately, too many medicinal materials have completely blocked the deliciousness of the mutton while covering up the mutton smell.In addition, someone invented a "scientific" method to kill the smell of sheep before it turned into mutton, pouring beer into the sheep. It is said that this method can greatly reduce the smell of sheep. I have always believed that the reason why Yuan Mei can become a model for followers of later generations is largely related to his open attitude on diet.He wrote in it: "The three animals of cattle, sheep, and deer are not common in southern homes. However, the preparation method must be known." The mutton recipes listed in the "Miscellaneous Animals List" range from sheep's head, sheep's feet, yokan, When it comes to lamb tripe soup, red stewed lamb, fried shredded lamb and even roasted lamb, although the "ancient method" of "adding glaring eyes, walnuts, and removing the smell" is also mentioned, but in general, most of them are chicken soup, Vanilla, diced bamboo shoots, liqueur, pepper, green onion, rice vinegar, etc. are commonly seasoned, and there is no special strong deodorization method mentioned.What is particularly commendable is that, as a southerner, Yuan Mei also recorded the "burning lamb" that still scares the general southerners: "cut the lamb into large pieces, weighing five to seven catties, and burn it on an iron fork. Weiguo Sweet and crisp, it should arouse Song Renzong's midnight thoughts." Whether you are afraid of sheep smell is indeed a difference between ethnic groups and individuals, but as far as the taste of mutton is concerned, I think sheep smell is an inseparable part of mutton, so the technique of removing smell does not need to be too hard, just right. It is appropriate. However, in Guangzhou, which is known as the "Gourmet Paradise" and has always been known as the "Yangcheng", except for the Hainan "Eastern goat", which is said to be grown up by taking traditional Chinese medicine and has completely eliminated the smell, if you want to eat For a long time, it has been more difficult to become a real "smell sheep".Even if there are some mutton-themed restaurants, in Yangcheng, where there are many restaurants and restaurants, they are just "smoldering" in obscurity on the post of "secret whistle".Persuading the Han people in Guangzhou to drink some sheep smell is even more difficult than "blackmailing ghosts to eat tofu". Fortunately, China has a vast land and abundant resources, and at least there are no trade barriers between provinces and cities in the circulation of mutton. Those who are crazy about sheep like me finally waited until the day when the clouds opened and the moon was bright.The "Bogda Food Paradise" next to Tianhe Times Square is a paradise for sheep idiots.Horse meat, venison, red venison, stand aside!Let's get straight to the point: lamb, roast me the leg of lamb, roast me the whole lamb and its smell, and leave the rest alone.Before enjoying the fun, remember one thing: after the heat roasts the mutton, the wine can further induce the mutton.Aging with rice is a good choice, but on the wine label of "Bogda", it is good to see "Loulan dry red" produced in Turpan.According to my personal experience, this is the best domestic red wine.It is a pity that it has always been exported directly to the west from the place of production, and it is rare to see Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.Red wine from the Western Regions is the best companion for mutton. It is well-founded to say: "Cooking sheep and slaughtering cattle is a pleasure, and you will have to drink three hundred cups"-why not pigs or chickens?The reason is that Li Bai is not a Han Chinese, and of course he is not afraid of sheep shame. Don’t gossip, it’s cool, and it’s a good time to eat mutton. Find a cold night, book a large room, roast a whole lamb, bring a sheep idiot, and serve it with "Loulan dry red", Close the door and swipe a knife to chew, eat mutton and make him flirtatious, what a joy!