Cultural and food appropriation is real and powerful; it can erase a dish’s identity and name, even while spreading its reach, recognition, and regard. The ubiquity and popularity of this BBQ lamb skewers recipe, known to millions by its Mandarin name, yangrou chuanr, and typically sold street-side in China by swarthy Uyghur men fanning glowing charcoal embers and cooking multiple skewers at a time, suggest that, like many foods once belonging to a minority group, these kebabs have become entrenched in the modern food culture of China’s Han majority. Sadly, their Turkic Uyghur name – kewap – is known to few save the Uyghurs themselves…and now you, of course. Happily, like me and millions of others who know these kebabs as chuanr, you’re going to love them! Get some meat with fat on it, with good marbling. Use lamb or mutton (my preference). Ensure the meat has enough fat so that you can alternate the fat chunks with the meat chunks when you skewer your…skewers. Play around with the spices. If you don’t like chilli, use less. If you don’t like the numbing nature of Sichuan peppercorn, leave it out. But if you don’t like cumin, you’re out of luck, as the only suggestion I’d give for cumin is that there’s never going to be too much in your marinade or on your kewap, so be generous.
Ingredients
For the spice mix
For the marinade:
Method
- Combine the ingredients for your spice mix and place them into a spice shaker. Set aside. You’ll use this later to season the skewers while grilling and on other dishes, as you’ll end up with more than you need for this amount of meat.
- If not already diced, cut your lamb into roughly equal pieces. Do not discard the chunks of fat attached to your meat – you’ll want those to tenderise the lamb on your skewer and, if you’re like me, to eat as well.
- Add your diced lamb to a large mixing bowl along with the onion, salt, chilli, cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, and Shaoxing wine. Mix to coat the lamb well. Marinate for up to 24-hours in the refrigerator.
- Whilst your lamb is marinating, fire up the grill. You’ll want the charcoal nice and hot for your skewers, but for the flames to have subsided; it’s ready when your charcoal is glowing nicely. You can, of course, make these on a gas grill, but a charcoal one will give it the best flavour.
- Load up your skewers with the marinated lamb, discarding the onion and alternating meat pieces with fat pieces (e.g., meat, meat, fat, meat, fat, meat, meat, meat, fat). Thin metal skewers are your best bet, but you can also use bamboo/wooden ones – just soak them in water for at least 30-minutes ahead of time so they don’t burn on the BBQ.
- Place your skewers on the grill, directly over the glowing charcoal. You want them in the hot zone. Turn the skewers often, searing the meat as evenly as you can.
- Once the lamb has darkened, start seasoning with your pre-made spice mix. Be generous, as a lot will end up in the grill. Turn your skewers and season each side a few times. Remove your skewers and, if you dare, add a final sprinkle of your seasoning mix and/or some whole cumin seeds to your plate of skewers. Pull the meat off the skewers with a fork, or just with your teeth.
- It’s a quick high-heat dish, so the whole grilling process should take approximately 6-minutes. The flavours of your spice mix, combined with the meat itself, the char from the grill, and the melted fat, should all come together for a juicy, lamby, Uyghur umami party in your mouth. Grab a cold beer and enjoy.
