The ubiquity and popularity of Uyghur lamb kebabs – typically sold street-side in China, by men fanning glowing charcoal embers and cooking 10, 15, 20 skewers at a time – suggests that, like so many foods once belonging to a minority group, they – kawap in Uyghur, yangrou chuan in Mandarin – have become firmly entrenched in the modern food culture of the Han Chinese majority. You can see them in every city in China. And they are always delicious.
However, instead of approximating the skewers I give you a recipe for Uyghur-style lamb chops, simply because I love a lamb chop, and I’ve given you a skewered meat recipe elsewhere. And though I haven’t strayed too far from the seasoning you’ll find both in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China, I do encourage you to play around with the spices a bit. If you don’t like chilli, don’t use as much as I have. If you don’t like the numbing nature of Sichuan peppercorns, leave them out. If you don’t like cumin, though, you are out of luck, as the only suggestion I’d give for cumin is that there’s never going to be too much, so be generous.
Note: If you don’t have a barbecue, you can cook the chops on a hot griddle pan on the stove.
This recipe is by Anna Ansari and is kindly reproduced with her permission from Silk Roads: A Flavour Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing.
Serves: 2-4
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus at least 20 minutes marinating
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Method
- Tip the toasted sesame, fennel, and cumin seeds and Sichuan peppercorns into a large mixing bowl, then add the ground cumin, chilli powder, MSG, sugar, and salt. Add your lamb chops and toss them in the spice rub to coat. Drizzle the Shaoxing wine over the top and toss again to evenly coat your meat.
- Leave your lamb chops to hang out in their rub and wine for a minimum of 20 minutes, but preferably a few hours (keep them in the refrigerator if marinating for more than 20–30 minutes).
- Whilst your lamb is absorbing all those incredible flavours, fire up the barbecue. If using a gas barbecue, you want it at medium–high heat, and if using charcoal, you want the coals to be hot, ashed over, and glowing. When you’re ready to grill, place the lamb chops on the grill, directly over the glowing charcoals, in the hot zone.
- Cook your lamb chops for 4–5 minutes per side, or until the meat reaches your desired level of doneness. An internal temperature of 65–70°C will give you a medium chop, but 60–65°C will give you the sweet spot medium-rare that this cut of meat cries out for. Anything over 70°C will give you disappointment.
- The flavours of your spice mix, combined with the meat itself – the char from the grill, the melted fat – should all come together for a juicy, lamby, Uyghur umami party in your mouth. Top your chops with any leftover spice-rub mix and a hefty handful of chopped coriander. Dig in. Use your hands. Grab a cold beer and enjoy.
