Xinjiang Lamb Breast Skewers
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Easy
"Lamb breast meat isn’t a cut you see a lot on a BBQ, certainly not grilled anyway. Try to cook these skewers over a mediumish heat to give the fat a chance to render a little. Your guests will need to chew – this isn’t fall-apart, tender, fillet steak – but, in my opinion, tenderness is an overrated virtue in food anyway. Chewing is how you get the flavour out."
This recipe is from The DIY BBQ Cookbook by James Whetlor (Quadrille, £20), Photography by Sam Folan
Ingredients for Lamb Skewers
- 1 tablespoon toasted cumin seeds, coarsely ground
- 1–2 teaspoons chilli (red pepper) flakes
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground Sichuan pepper
- 1 teaspoon toasted fennel seeds, coarsely ground
- 600–800g lamb breast, diced into 4cm in cubes
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, or sake or dry sherry (optional)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- Boiled basmati rice
- Sliced cucumber
Method
- Place the cumin, chilli, pepper and fennel seeds in a bowl and mix together. In another bowl, mix the meat with the wine (if using) and the oil, then add half the spice mix, combine and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the BBQ to a medium-high heat. Thread the marinated meat onto metal skewers and season with salt and pepper. Don’t bunch the meat together too tightly on the skewers – give it space or it won’t cook properly.
- Place the skewers on the BBQ and cook for about 5–6 minutes on each side – you want them to be cooked through and with lots of the fat rendered away.
- Sprinkle over the rest of the spice mix as the kebabs cook on the grill. Serve with rice and sliced cucumber.
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