Tag: lamb
Xinjiang Lamb Skewers
Xinjiang Lamb Skewers
While these lamb skewers are a popular street vendor food in Beijing, they originated from Xinjiang region, which is China’s largest autonomous province. Xinjiang borders India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan; highly influencing this particular style of Chinese cuisine. Xinjiang is populated by over 11 million ethnically native Uyghur, indigenous to Central Asia.With Xinjiang being dominantly Muslim, lamb is a popular protein in their cuisine. I recommend using boneless leg of lamb for the skewers. It is very tender and inexpensive. The lamb needs to marinate for at least 4 hours. Overnight is always better. The use of cumin and chili powder in the marinade highlights the influence from it’s neighboring Central Asian countries. When ready to broil or grill, skewer up 4-5 pieces of lamb on a skewer. Sprinkle whole cumin seeds over the skewers. They will only need to broil or grill for 6 minutes a side. Let them rest for a few minutes before serving. The metal skewers will be hot.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- metal skewers
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1/2 medium white onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sichuan peppercorns ground
Lamb Skewers
- 2.5-3 lbs boneless leg of lamb cut into 1.5” cubes
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Marinate the lamb for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Place 5 pieces of lamb on metal skewers. Place the skewers on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil. Sprinkle the whole cumin seeds over the lamb skewers.
- Broil for 6 minutes a side.
Marqat Fasolia
Marqat Fasolia
Marqat Fasolia is a white bean stew cooked with tomatoes and lamb. There are many different variations of this stew all over the Middle Eastern regions, with and without meat. When choosing lamb for the recipe, shoulder will work the best. It happens to be a fattier cut that requires slow cooking, which is perfect for this stew. Bone in lamb shoulder is always preferred, but you can use boneless if you’d like. My local Asian market sells already cubed bone in lamb shoulder. If you can’t find bone in cubed shoulder, ask you butcher to cut it up for you. This is something that you can’t do at home unless you happen to have a bandsaw in your kitchen. Cut up lamb shanks would also be a suitable replacement if you can’t find shoulder.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone in lamb shoulder cubed
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 tomatoes seeded and finely chopped
- 14 oz dry white beans cooked
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
Garnish
- plain Greek yogurt
- mint chopped
Instructions
- Add the lamb to a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 45 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In the same pot, heat up cooking oil over medium high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add the lamb back in and sauté for another 5 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and cumin. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the water and white beans. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes.
- Garnish with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and chopped mint.
