Which Beijing dish consists of sliced mutton cooked in a hot pot?

Instant-boiled mutton is the Beijing dish of thinly sliced mutton cooked briefly in a boiling hot pot.

Known in Chinese as shuanyangrou, the dish is a signature of Beijing cuisine. Diners use chopsticks to swish paper-thin slices through a clear, boiling broth, removing them as soon as the meat changes color. The traditional pot is a distinctive bronze, doughnut-shaped vessel called a tongguo.

The dish is commonly associated with the Yuan dynasty and a story about Kublai Khan, whose chef supposedly improvised thin mutton slices during a military campaign. Historians consider that story legendary, however. A similar quick-cooking method appears in a Song dynasty text, while written records specifically describing shuanyangrou as a Beijing favorite become more common during the Qing dynasty.

It is easy to confuse this dish with Sichuan or Mongolian hot pot. Beijing-style mutton hot pot usually emphasizes a clear broth and sesame-based dipping sauce, while Sichuan hot pot is known for a strongly spiced, chili-rich broth.