Instant-boiled mutton
Instant-boiled mutton is a Chinese hot pot dish popular in Beijing cuisine. Traditionally, Chinese people have eaten it inside the home during cold winter weather, but in recent times, instant-boiled mutton has been eaten year-round. It is also served in restaurants.
Mutton slice often uses different cuts from the back and rear legs. The tail of the lamb is used to prepare the soup base.
History
While a popular legend attributes the dish to the Yuan Dynasty, the story has little historical backing and the practice of eating thinly sliced meat cooked quickly in boiling broth in a style of resembling today's hot pot — was already established before then. The story claims that at one point during a battle, Kublai Khan had a sudden craving for stewed mutton. However, the enemy's troops were approaching. To satisfy Kublai Khan's desire, a chef quickly cut off a dozen thin mutton slices and put them in boiling water. He removed them as soon as the lamb changed color and put them into a bowl with salt. Kublai Khan finished the mutton quickly and returned to the battle, which he won. At the victory banquet, Kublai Khan requested that the chef make this lamb dish again and named it shuanyangrou or instant-boiled mutton.A notable early account comes from the Song dynasty book Shan Jia Qinggong by scholar Lin Hong, who described a similar cooking method both made by himself in his hometown Quanzhou and also at a banquet in present-day Hangzhou. Inspired by the sight of the meat swirling in the bubbling broth — which he likened to "waves surging over snowy rivers and winds turning evening clouds" — Lin composed a poem and named the dish Bo Xia Gong. Lin explicitly noted that "mutton can also be used."
However, it was only during the Qing Dynasty when multiple written records exist of a dish named shuanyangrou as a popular dish in Beijing.