Recipe video above. A cumin spiced lamb dish might sound totally un-Chinese, but it's actually authentic and very on-trend! Hailing from the Xinjiang province of China, if you love Middle Eastern and Chinese food, you will love this. Bold cumin flavour with tingling "cold" spiciness from Sichuan pepper and earthy chilli flavour (but not spiciness) from the dried chillis.Spice level - On the upper warm buzz side, but not fiery heat because Sichuan pepper is a different type of spiciness, see note 4.Recipe credit: Adapted from Real-Deal Xinjiang Cumin Lamb from Omnivore's Cookbook, one of my trusted sources for authentic Chinese cooking. I made a few minor tweaks to streamline but the flavour is bang on!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time8 minutesmins
Marinating30 minutesmins
Total Time53 minutesmins
Course: Mains
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: cumin lamb, Lamb stir fry, Xinjiang food
Servings: 4
Calories: 358cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
Lamb & marinade:
500g/ 1 lbboneless lamb leg meat (or rump), sliced 1/2 cm / 1/5" thick (Note 1)
1tbspsoy sauce, light or all-purpose (not dark or sweet)
Marinade - Combine lamb, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, salt, baking soda and cornflour in a mixing bowl. Mix well then set aside for marinade for 30 minutes (counter fine).
Spice mix - Mix the ingredients in a small bowl.
Cook lamb - Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large non-stick skillet (30cm/1") over medium-high heat until hot. Add half the lamb and spread out in a single layer. Leave for 30 seconds then, using 2 wooden spoons, toss for a further 1 minute until the lamb is slightly golden. Remove onto a plate then repeat with remaining lamb (you shouldn't need more oil).
Sauté aromatics - Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the dried chilli, ginger and garlic. Stir for 10 seconds to release flavour, then add the onion. Cook for 2 minutes until the onion just starts to soften.
Spiced lamb - Add the cooked lamb then sprinkle the spice mix over. Toss well to evenly coat.
Finish dish - Add the cilantro, sesame seeds and toss. Serve over rice! (Note: the dried chillies are not meant to be eaten.)
Notes
1. Lamb - Butterflied or boneless lamb leg roast meat is my preferred. Rump is similar. Best cut for lamb flavour, not too fatty, and tenderness (baking soda also plays a part, see below). Other lamb chop cuts will work but are smaller/fattier. Shoulder, shanks and other slow cooking cuts aren't suitable. Pricey backstrap is wasted on this recipe, in my opinion, unless you can get it very cheap! (Save it for this recipe)Don't slice too thinly, you want a bit of bite to the lamb pieces. Also, if too thin, it's hard to cook to make golden as there's too many really thin pieces!2. Chinese cooking wine ("Shaoxing wine") is an essential ingredient for making truly "restaurant standard" Chinese dishes. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic sub - sub with 2 tablespoons chicken stock/broth.3. Baking soda/bi-carb - Chinese restaurant secret to tenderise meat (called "velveting"). Tried and loved method used by readers for years - see method for chicken and beef for stir fries!4. Sichuan pepper - Cold spiciness, a bit lemony, rather than hot spiciness you get from normal chilli like cayenne pepper! Usually I recommend grinding your own but in this recipe, pre-ground is just as good. To grind your own, dry toast 1 1/2 tsp, cool, grind, sift out lumps, measure out 1/2 tsp powder.Substitute with 1/4 teaspoon white pepper.5. Dried chilli - Any Asian or Indian/sub-continent red dried chillies will be fine here. Primarily used for chilli flavour, sautéed whole, not meant to be eaten. Doesn't release much spiciness.6. Leftovers will keep for 3 - 4 days in the fridge. Not suitable for freezing.Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings.