Shanxi Taiyuan Brain

Tàiyuán Tóunǎo (Taiyuan Brain Soup) is a distinctive Shanxi breakfast soup with over 300 years of history. Despite its unusual name, it contains no animal brains — it is a warming soup made from lamb broth thickened with yellow wine and fermented yellow rice, seasoned with Chinese herbs. The rich, creamy soup is served with yangyou (fried dough) for dipping.

食材清单

• 500 g lamb bones with meat
• 200 ml yellow rice wine (huangjiu)
• 50 g fermented yellow rice
• 3 slices ginger
• 5 scallions
• 1 tsp Chinese angelica (dang gui)
• 1 tsp astragalus root
• 1 tsp longan
• Salt to taste
• Serving: yangyou (fried dough strips)

制作步骤

1. 1. Cut the mutton into small pieces and blanch it in cold water to remove the blood foam.
2. 2. Bring the mutton soup to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and simmer for 2 hours.
3. 3. Remove the mutton and slice it into pieces for later use
4. 4. Add flour and water to form a dough, and knead it into small dough balls (gnocchi).
5. 5. Add noodles to the mutton soup and cook
6. 6. Add mutton slices and lotus root slices, season with salt and rice wine