Lamb and Onions with Cumin

Lamb is something that is very popular in the Middle East, Australia and parts of China. Some people don't like it because of their gamey smell, and there are others who prize lamb's tenderness and its aroma. For me, I love any lamb cooked in such a way that removes the gamey smell and preserve the aroma. Actually one of the best lamb stir fry dish (Chengdu Spiced Lamb) I've had is at the PF Chang's restaurant in Boise, ID. We also tried the same dish at PF Chang's in Fremont, CA and it wasn't as good as Boise's for some reason. If you have a PF Chang's restaurant nearby, I'd highly recommend you to give it a try. Anyhoo, today's cumin dish is kind similar to the PF Chang's version, but with a simpler flavor. I will probably post another one that is more similar to their flavor sometime later. This recipe is adapted from a Chinese recipe site.

Serves 3

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound lamb leg or shoulder meat, thinly sliced into 1/4 inch thick biteable slices
2 scallion, minced
1/2 inch ginger, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cooking wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon corn starch
2-4 tablespoon water
1 cup corn or vegatable oil
1 6-inch diameter onion, cut into wedges, halved and seperate the onion layer
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1-3 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped



Tips:

1. The amount of salt, cumin and chili powder is based on your taste, so during the last seasoning step, taste the dish and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
   

Instruction:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix the lamb slices with the salt, 1 teaspoon cooking wine, soy sauce and corn starch. Water should be the last ingredient to add to the marinate, the amount of water gets added depends on how much the lamb slices absorbs. Add in 2 teaspoon of water at a time, mix it well with the lamb with your hand in clockwise circular motion, then keep adding more water until the lamb can't absorb anymore water and the meat feels springy when pressed. Let it marinate for 10 minutes. After the lamb is marinated, if there are some water came out of the lamb, use the clockwise hand motion to mix it back in with the lamb, then mix it well with 1 tablespoon oil. This lamb marinate process is to let the moister get in the lamb while add the oil coating prevents the moister escape during the cooking process, our goal is to make the lamb more tender. This marinating process is exactly the same for beef, which we talked about in the Mongolian Beef recipe.
   
2. Heat 1 cup of oil in the wok or skillet over high heat till pretty hot but not smoking, put in the onion wedges and cook until onion start to soften (1-2 mintues), use a mesh to scope out the onion and put it on a paper towl lined plate. Reheat the oil till pretty hot and drop in the lamb slices, quickly cook the lamb until the lamb slices are barely cooked (white on the outside and pink in the middle). Use a mesh to scope out the lamb and drain on the paper towl.
3. Leave 1 tablespoon of the oil in the wok or skillet over high heat, put in the onion and lamb and quickly add salt, 1 teaspoon cooking wine, cumin and chili powder, mix everything so the lamb and onion is well coated. Cook till the lamb is no longer pink, taste to adjust seasoning, and mix in the sesame oil and cilantro. Serve over white rice.
   

Coffee Spareribs

Coffee spareribs is a dish that I am hesitant to put up because it takes a while to make and it is definitely not healthy. But at the same time, this is one dish that received 5 out of 5 stars on my taste rating and I GUARANTEE it is going to impress your family and guests like no other, in terms of its tender texture, surprising flavors and the shear creativity involved. We first had this dish in a Chinese Dim Sum place (Chinese breakfast restaurant) near San Francisco, and just thought it was the bomb. I came home and immediately started looking up ways to recreate this dish at home. This recipe is adapted from http://jinglerecipe.blogspot.com

This image came from the web because I forgot to take a picture when I made it last time.

Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
1 pound spareribs, rinsed well and cut between the bones into individual ribs (about 5-10 ribs)
6 cups peanut or corn oil
Marinate:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon cooking sherry
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoon 3-in-1 instant coffee mix powder (see tips #3 for substitution)
3 tablespoon water
2-5 tablespoon cornstarch
Sauce:
5 tablespoon 3-in-1 instant coffee mix powder (see tips #3 for substitution)
2 tablespoon ketchup
5 tablespoon water
sugar to taste

1 cup "Cool Whip" cream, or freshly whipped heavy cream with sugar at room temperature

Tips:

1. It would be great if the spareribs you have is already trimmed into St. Louis style. If that is not the case, then just cut the ribs into matching bite-able sections.
2. Since this recipe contains a fair amount of coffee, if you are sensitive to caffeine, it might be better to serve this dish at lunch time instead of dinner, because then the caffeine won't keep you awake at night.
3. 3-in 1 instant coffee powder is a mix of instant coffee powder with cream and sugar. If you can't find this coffee mix, you can use either regular brewed coffee with cream and sugar added to your taste (then you don't need to add water), or regular instant coffee powder (need to add powdered cream and sugar).
   

Instruction:

1. Mix all the marinate ingredients well in a large mixing bowl using a whisk to form a thick, slurp batter, vary the amount of cornstarch added to achieve this consistency. Add in the ribs and mix well, cover and let it marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
   
2. When the marinate is almost done, mix the sauce ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
   
3. Once marinate is done, heat oil in a deep soup pot or wok over high heat until oil start to smoking, add rib pieces one by one into the oil, deep fry the ribs until they are no longer pink on the outside (about 3-6 minutes), remove them with a slotted spoon.
   
4. Wait till the oil is smoking again, add in all the ribs at once and deep fry for 1 minute. Check to see if the ribs are done by cutting into the biggest rib and see if the meat near the bone is no longer pink. Remove them with a slotted spoon on to a plate lined with paper towels.
   
5. Leave 2 tablespoon oil in the pot or wok, add in the sauce and bring to a boil over high heat, add in the ribs and coat well with the sauce, taste to see if more sugar needs to be added. Transfer to a big coffee mug or plate and add the cool whip cream on top of the ribs. To eat, dip the ribs in the cream.