Braised Lamb Chops (CNY2019)

My family prefer fishery products and vegetables so I won’t make too much meat in the New Year’s Eve dinner. Among all meat, my father doesn’t have beef, goose and duck, and parents don’t have chicken very often, so there are not many choices for me. Well I have made soup with pork so lamb is a better choice, especially suitable in cold wintertime.

Lamb has strong flavour that I would like to eliminate a bit with spices. The lamb chops I bought are a bit too fat so instead of blenching them in water before braising, I would pan-fry them with their own fat so as to release some fat and also seal the meat.

Serve 8

Ingredients –
Lamb chops, 800g;
Carrot, 300g;
White radish, 300g;
Garlic, 8 cloves;
Ginger, 20g;
Chili bean paste/Dou-ban paste, 2tbsp;
Dark soy sauce, 1tbsp;
Light soy sauce, 3tbsp;
Chinese cooking wine, 5tbsp;
Rock sugar, 20g;
Mixed herbs – dry red chili, 6 (optional); bay leaves, 2; star anises, 2; peppercorn, 1tbsp; amomum tsao-ko, 2; cassia, 1. Or just use some pre-mixed spices from Chinese grocery store;
Coriander, a small bunch, for garnishing.

How to do –

1. Pan-fry the lamb in medium high heat without adding any oil till they turn golden and fat released. Save the fat for frying vegetable or baking root vegetable;

2. Put the lamb in a cast iron pot with all spices and seasoning ingredients. Add in water till meat is covered. Lid on, and bring to boil. Then simmer for 40 minutes in medium low heat;

3. After that, have a taste of the sauce, adjust with salt or sugar. Then put in the radish and carrot chunks, bring to boil and simmer for half an hour in medium low heat;

4. Now spices have released all flavour and I would like to drain the sauce. You could put the spices in a filter packet but I don’t like to use it. Or you don’t need to drain the sauce;

5. Put the lambs and vegetables back in the pot and reduce the sauce to the amount of your preference in high heat;

6. Garnish with coriander.