一羊三吃 | Lamb Three Ways

Didn’t intend to go buy lamb at Whole Foods but accidently found this whole riblet/breast with perfect layers! The butcher was joking that he didn’t want to sell that good of a lamb breast to us haha! More commonly cooked and pricier part of lamb is the lamb rack, but I personally like the tenderness from fat, hence, lamb rib/riblets more and the ways to cook them are very versatile – long-time, slow-cooked lamb soup, grilled whole ribs or lamb skewers over open fire… Already drooling just thinking of them. The best of any lamb I have ever had was still back in Xinjiang, China, where I visited with family and friends back in the early 2000s.

Usually my family eats lamb in the winter so the “heat” from lamb does not add on the heat in summer time and could warm us up in the winter. But it is too hard to let go the riblets I found in Whole Foods after a LOOONNNGGG search of riblets, NOT RACKS or chops!

Sharing three ways of making lambs riblets/breast today: lamb soup, grilled lamb riblets, and lamb skewers! 燉羊湯, 烤羊排，烤羊肉串！

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you like lamb, usually you are ok with the gamy taste or even going after it. The natural flavor of lamb is too good and subtle to over use spices on! Flavorful Origins 😉 The less, the better 做羊肉要學會做減法~
Lamb soup:
- do not transfer lamb into cold water after first boiling them to get rid of excess blood; lamb meat could tighten quickly from hot boiling water to cold water
- when starting to slow cook lamb soup, boiling lamb over high heat for 20-30mins helps give the white, milky color and flavor
- do not add salt till the last few minutes as salt, an electrolyte, also makes lamb meat less tender
Grill riblets:
- corn starch in marinating help preserves moist, water when grilling / baking

RECIPE

2-3lb lamb breast/riblets
ginger slices
scallion slices
white pepper powder
a few Szechuan peppercorns (optional)
radish (optional)

dipping sauce for slow cooked lamb in soup:

minced garlic
chopped scallion
chopped cilantro
3tbsp soy sauce
1tsp sugar
1tbsp (or more) chili pepper / 丹山沾水
1tbsp (or more) sesame seeds
hot oil to pour over
a few tbsp of lamb soup

marinate sauce for grilled/baked riblets:

1:1 ratio of oyster sauce and corn starch
for 4 pieces of riblets, I used 3tbsp corn starch + 3tbsp oyster sauce

dry rub for grilled/baked riblets:

1:1 ratio of cumin power/seed, chili powder or Asian barbeque dry mix, sesame seeds

Step 0: put lamb ribs in clean water and soak for at least 2 hours or overnight. Water will turn red because of the excess blood from lamb. This step is to get rid of the gamy taste and dirty materials in blood.

Lamb Soup

Step 1: put ribs in a pot, fill with cold water till it covers the ribs. Add in a few slices of ginger and scallion. Turn on heat and boil for 3-5mins. Foam, grey texture will float on the surface, those are left over dirty material from lamb meat and the blood.

look at that layering… and the foam/dirt floating on top of pot haha

Step 2: rinse and clean the riblet in warm water and discard everything else in the pot. Lamb meat might get stiff if wash in cold water right away… Just imagine how you would feel moving from a hot tub to an unheated swimming pool…

Step 3: back in the pot, heat up water (much more than the first time as they evaporate over long cooking time), add a few Szechuan peppercorns, ginger slices, scallion slices, white pepper powder. Transfer ribs back into the warm pot.

Step 4: boil over high heat for 20-30mins to get the milky, white texture. If volume decreases, refill with hot water. Then slow cook over medium-low heat for around 2 hours.

Step 5: slice radish into thin slices or chunks; boil them in hot water for a few minutes to get rid of the radish “raw”/almost iron-like taste. Can skip this step if you do not usually mind/notice the taste.

radish is to “cool” the body from “heat” of the lamb for balance

Step 6: after the lamb soup has cooked for almost 2-2.5 hours, put radish slices into the soup, cook for another 20mins till radish are soften.

Step 7: add salt and white pepper, taste and adjust, continue cook for another 10-15mins. Adding salt at last because it is an electrolyte and can change protein structure, meat texture if add early on.

Step 8: for the slow cook rib’s dipping sauce, gather a few cloves of minced garlic, chopped scallion and cilantro (amount all based on your preference), sesame seeds, chili powders, 1tsp sugar, 3tbsp soy sauce in a bowl; then heat up oil till smoke rises, pour oil over the sauce, add a few tbsp of lamb soup, stir and mix well, ready to use!

left: dipping sauce; right: dry rub for grilled ribs

Step 9: in an empty bowl, put in a few chopped scallion and cilantro, some white pepper, noodle (optional), then pour the hot lamb soup over, plate with radish and lamb ribs as well! Ready to serve!

Usually we drink lamb soup in the cold winter. The “heat” of the lamb + the spice from white pepper are distinct in this dish and warm us up immediately. If you eat in summer like us, you might be sweating over haha!

Grilled/Baked Riblets

Step 1: after lamb ribs are soaked in water overnight in step 0, bring them out and dry with paper towel to maximize marinate being absorbed

Step 2: mix 1:1 corn starch to oyster sauce (dilute with some water if needed), rub them on the ribs; cover well in foil paper and marinate back in fridge for at least 2hours to overnight

Step 3: preheat oven to 200C/392F, then transfer the foil-sealed ribs into over, bake at 200C/392F for 50mins WITHOUT opening the foil. This step is to cook the lamb.

Step 4: while ribs are baking in oven, make the dry rub by mixing 1:1:1 of cumin powder/seed : chili pepper/Asian barbeque dry mix : sesame seeds. Of course if you would like stronger cumin flavor, or spiciness, feel free to adjust the ratio

Step 5: after ribs are baked for 50mins, remove the top foil paper, continue to bake for 15mins. This step is to further bake the oil out, get rid of greasiness further and also crisp the rib surface

if serving both the soup and grilled riblets in the same meal like I did, I would recommend start drinking lamb soup, eating slow cooked ribs first, before the strongly-flavored, grilled ribs are out of the oven. Otherwise, if you try the grilled ribs first, and go back to the lamb soup, all the subtle lamb flavor essence in the soup would be gone and it would just taste like water..

Step 6: take ribs from oven, generously pour dry rubs over the ribs without touching them because they are HOT! Put back in oven and bake for 5 extra mins.