🍽️ Shanxian Mutton Soup

Famous mutton soup, southwest Shandong.

Shanxian mutton soup is the famous soup of Shanxian in Heze, southwestern Shandong, long praised as the finest soup of China. Local green-skin goats of the southwest plain are simmered with bones and meat over high heat for a long time until the broth turns milky white, thick and coating the bowl. The lamb is fall-apart tender without gaminess, and the soup is fresh yet never greasy, served with cilantro and scallions and optional chili oil. Shanxian locals start the day with a bowl, eaten with a sesame cake or crusty flatbread, a breakfast ritual unchanged for decades. Celebrated for its white broth, tender meat and fresh flavor, it is especially warming in autumn and winter and embodies the hearty hospitality of southwestern Shandong.