The History of Zhangyipin Sauced Mutton
Zhang Yiping is a century-old shop in Xinshi, located in the middle of North Street. Its mutton is delicious and famous in Jiangnan. In the ninth year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (AD 1869), Zhang, a native of Ningbo, came to Xincheng to do business. He first partnered with others, and then opened the "Zhang Yutai" restaurant in North Street. There is a sheep street in the new town. As early as the Ming dynasty, there was a sale of Hu sheep on this street. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were eight or nine shops dealing in Hu sheep, and new people always liked to eat mutton. So Zhang carefully studied the boiled mutton. Because his mutton is fat but not greasy, tender and crisp, Zhang Yutai's mutton is favored by customers, which opens up the market and has a certain popularity. About 1900, Zhang Yutai's boss Zhang Song He changed Zhang Yutai's name to "Zhang Yipin", which means "one product at a time". After Zhang's death, his son Zhang Yongyuan inherited his father's business and managed Zhang Yipin mutton. Being clever and eager to learn, he went upstairs and made a piece of mutton. Zhang Yipin mutton is famous for its exquisite selection of materials and exquisite seasoning. The purchased Hu sheep requires strong and tender teeth, refined white rock sugar and ginger as seasonings, authentic red yeast, Shandong jujube, pepper, fennel and cinnamon dried every other year. Cooked mutton tastes delicious and indescribable. Zhang Yiping's heyday was in the early 1930s. Zhang Yongyuan opened a "Zhangyipin" mutton branch in Linping, Tangqi and Wu Kang. Zhang Yipin's sauce mutton jiaozi was also packed in a small bamboo basket, labeled as "Lu Xian", and entered Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou until Beijing and Tianjin. Later, Zhang Yiping switched to tin cans, and Xincheng mutton entered Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asian markets one after another. At that time, Zhang Yiping, a new city, became famous, and most of the diners came from surrounding counties. In order to catch up with the authentic mutton noodles in soup, they lined up in North Street with lanterns and torches before dawn, waiting for Zhang Yipin to open the pot and divide it into morning market and night market. At present, there are more than 50 shops, large and small, dealing in winter mutton in the new urban area, and the sales volume of mutton in the new urban area in northern Zhejiang is second to none.