Yangbeizi 羊背子 "yangbeizi"

Yangbeizi (mutton chunks cooked in a special way), is usually served on three occasions in Inner Mongolia: in banquets, as a gift, or as a tribute. Sheep with big tails and medium-weight and lambs under one year old are used.

Yangbeizi banquets are grand and exciting events. Before the meal, the host greets the guests, then a junior or attendant, with a silver Mongolian knife, cuts a few pieces of mutton from the head of the sheep and offers it to the leaders or elders. After sacrifices to gods or ancestors have been made, the sheep's head is removed and the meat on its back is cut in a certain manner, and then the banquet begins.

The cooking process is as follows: slaughter the sheep, remove the wool, gut and hooves, and divide the sheep into seven chunks - the skull, chest, back, waist, tail, legs, and limbs. After being cooked, the parts are placed together to form the shape of a whole sheep.