Ingredients
- 3–4 pounds bone-in braising lamb: shoulder, neck, shank or breast
- 1 handful cabbage or bok choy
- ½ bottle white wine
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sambal oleck or chili paste
- ¼ cup Szechuan peppercorns
- Peel from ½ orange
- 2 pods star anise
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon dried shrimp
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 5–6 whole Thai chilies
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Douchi (fermented soy beans)
- 2 small onions or shallots
- 1 nub ginger
- 3 cloves garlic
Instructions
With a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, blitz/grind sesame seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, coriander, chilies, orange zest, star anise and cinnamon into a coarse spice powder.
Brown lamb in large braising pot. Remove and set aside.
Sauté aromatics in the pot until fragrant. Deglaze with wet ingredients. Add 90% of spice powder into braising pot.
Add meat back into pot. Braise until tender but not falling apart, about 4 hours. Remove meat and let cool.
Pick meat off bones into bite-sized chunks. Toss lamb chunks in cornstarch until lightly coated.
Strain solids from cooking liquid and reduce to a thick syrup. Adjust seasoning to taste and set aside.
Heat up a wok or frying pan with a ¼ cup of neutral frying oil, until shimmering. Fry lamb chunks in small batches until very crispy (3–4 minutes).
Remove lamb from wok and toss in a bowl with reduced syrup.
Throw some cabbage or bok choy into hot wok for 25–30 seconds.
Coat crispy lamb chunks with the spice powder. Serve over cabbage or bok choy. Garnish with cilantro and serve with white rice.
