Hoa Lu’s rare goat meat
Thanks to its topography with large parts of the province consisting of mountainous areas, Ninh Binh is a wonderful place to breed goats and is famous for dishes made with goat meat. In Ninh Binh, goats are raised on rocky mountains instead of hills as in other provinces, therefore, the goat meat here is much more firm, fresh and delicious.
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Goat meat is a good food for our health because it is a kind of red meat but leaner and contains less cholesterol and fat than both lamb and beef.
There are various dishes made with goat meat such as stir-fried goat meat, steamed goat meat, grilled goat brisket, goat hotpot, and rare goat meat mixed with lemon. Each of them has its own unforgettable taste but among those dishes rare-goat meat in Hoa Lu is considered the most delicious one. The process of cooking this dish is quite complex and requires experience. Because goat meat usually has a strong and weird smell, therefore, makers must get rid of that smell before cooking. Goat meat is washed carefully and cut into thin slices, then marinated with holy basil leaves and duckweed leaves for about ten minutes. After that, the goat meat is dipped in hot water until rare and then mixed with various spices and additives such as ginger, chilly, lemon juice, citronella and roasted sesame seeds.
Rare goat meat is often served with unripe bananas, carambola, fig leaves and soy sauce together with some slices of ginger and Lai Thanh rice wine (a special kind of wine in Lai Thanh commune, it is distilled from sticky rice planted right on this land). All ingredients and spices harmonise perfectly with each other creating a wonderful flavour that will bring diners an interesting feeling which will become engraved in their minds.
NDO/vietnamonline
