This definitely isn't a soup. It's a stew but it's such a robust, hearty stew that I have to share it with you.
First of all, eating mutton was not part of my childhood. My mom never cooked mutton, noting that mutton was tough and had a gamey sort of smell.
When I was a teenager, I got it into my head that I won't eat mutton or beef. (Errr....to hell with teen ideals...I happily eat both beef and mutton now. I have a long way to go to be a vegetarian!)
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| Mutton Stew with Carrots and Onions |
As I grew older, I started trying out all types of cuisine and I most loved Indian mutton curry especially mutton varuval. Oh how I loved my mutton varuval. It was spicy and yummy and all the things the cardiologists never want you to eat.
When I was growing up, I always had cold feet especially if it was a week before my menstruation. This was part and parcel of PMS together with awful headaches, bloatedness and breast tenderness. Yes, I had the whole bloody works of PMS. It was like a gang turning my life upside down before the dreaded aunt flow arrived.
I read that eating mutton or lamb helped in reducing having chilly feet. Maybe that's not the real reason why I succumbed to my desire of chomping on mutton but it justified my food cravings.
If you cook mutton with "dang gui" like a stew, it's even better. It warms you up inside and makes you fearless of the cold, any cold. You will never fear rainy days or air-conditioning. (The other typical Chinese warm-me-up stew is Bak Kut Teh or pork ribs herbal stew....another classic dish!)
So I started buying mutton from Tesco - not cheap, mind you - but I was all raring to try cooking mutton. I didn't want to cook mutton with "dang gui" though I could. I wanted something like a stew and I found the perfect mutton stew recipe!
This is my go-to mutton stew recipe whenever I feel the need to eat something that makes me connect to my carnivorous cave-woman side. The stew tastes gorgeous the next day and especially if you dunk baguette bits into the stew to soak up the deliciousness.
If you have a slow cooker, you can just chuck all the ingredients into the pot and leave it to simmer for a few hours till the mutton is as tender as a rosebud. I'd recommend buying mutton with some fat as the fat renders beautifully into a sloppy mess of goopey stew.
I cook mine in a claypot which is great as claypot retains heat well and cooks stews beautifully.
Easy Mutton Stew with Carrots, Onions and Tomatoes, Asian-Style
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic
mutton chunks
2 carrots, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 large onions, cut into wedges
salt and black pepper
300 ml water or stock
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1. Heat up a pot and add oil. Fry garlic and onions with cloves, cinnamon stick and star anise.
2. Add mutton chunks. Sear the meat for a few seconds.
3. Add the rest of the vegetables and water.
4. Bring to a boil and then cover to simmer with low heat for 30 - 45 minutes until the mutton is tender.
5. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
6. Let the stew "rest" for 30 minutes or so before you dish up to serve with crusty bread or baguette slices. You can even eat it with white rice.
* If you are using a slow cooker, just place everything in the inner pot and let it cook on Auto for 2 hours or until the mutton is tender.
To continue my story about eating mutton and not having cold feet, actually it proved to be true in my case! I find that lamb and mutton warms up my body and I don't have chilly feet now. I have a friend who is always feeling cold (she even wears a cardigan to the supermarket as she gets cold faster than anyone of us) and she loves cooking lamb. I have not seen that warming effect on her despite her eating more lamb than me.
For some people, lamb or mutton is TOO warming so please go easy on mutton or lamb. Don't eat this stew weekly. Try it once a month first and see what happens. I don't want you to have nose bleeds!
(Nose bleeds as my mom used to tell me, was all about being too heated up inside. My youngest sister back in those days used to have nose bleeds off and on. My mom cured her of the nose bleeds with some soups made with black beans. I shall have to ask her what recipes those were.)
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