Fotang boiled sliced mutton can be cooked with onion, ginger and soy sauce.[Photo/yiwu.ezhejiang.gov.cn]

Before the Chinese people's liberation in 1949, there were many mutton sellers in Fotang Street. Some of the stores still selling boiled sliced mutton there boast a history of several decades. The cooking skill is passed generation to generation and keeps the original taste.

The first step, selecting the goat, is quite fastidious. The ideal mutton comes from the local goats raised free range and weighing 20 to 30 kilograms. Outdoor exercise makes the mutton fresh and tasty. Though these goats are not large, they are quite strong and their meat is fatty not greasy. These rams are usually castrated and aged about 18 months. The mutton is usually sturdy and chewy.

Traditional Fotang boiled sliced mutton can be cooked with onion, ginger and soy sauce after the goat's wool, head, claws and viscera have been removed and the whole goat is flushed of its blood and dried out.