Red Braised Lamb
A traditional Zhejiang dish featuring a rich, deeply colored broth with tender, fall-off-the-bone lamb and no gamey flavor.
Ingredients
Whole goat (slaughtered, skinned, gutted, head and feet removed, cut into 2.5 cm cubes)
1 (about 5000 g)
Chili paste
450 g
Dark soy sauce
200 g
Cooking wine
500 g
White pepper
5 g
Star anise
10 g
Sand ginger (Kaempferia galanga)
3 g
Cinnamon bark
15 g
Cloves
2 g
Black cardamom (Tsaoko)
5-6
White cardamom
3 g
Fennel seeds
3 g
Amomum (Sha Ren)
3 g
Dried tangerine peel
4 g
Bay leaves
5 g
Red dates (jujubes)
50 g
Goji berries (wolfberries)
15 g
Cumin (toasted and ground)
20 g
Ginger (washed and smashed)
100 g
Scallions (washed and smashed)
250 g
Fine salt
to taste
Chicken essence
to taste
MSG
to taste
Cooking oil
750 g
Instructions
1
Prepare the lamb
After slaughtering the goat, remove the skin, internal organs, head, and feet. Scrape off any remaining hair and blood stains from the meat, then cut the lamb into 2.5 cm cubes. Soak in cold water for 2–3 hours, then drain off the bloody water. Blanch the cubes in a pot of boiling water, then drain again. Wash and smash the ginger and scallions. Toast the cumin over low heat, grind it, and set aside.
2
Stir-fry the lamb
Place a wok over heat, add the cooking oil and heat it to 60–70% hot. First add the ginger and scallions to release their aroma, then immediately add the lamb cubes and stir-fry. Pour in part of the cooking wine; once the lamb shrinks and changes color, quickly add the chili paste and stir-fry over medium heat until fragrant. Stir in the dark soy sauce to coat the lamb with color, then immediately transfer everything into a large clay pot. Pour in about 2000 g of water and add the star anise, sand ginger, cinnamon, and all the other spices.
3
Braise
Set the clay pot on the stove. Once it comes to a boil over medium heat, skim off the foam. Add the remaining cooking wine, fine salt, and white pepper, then drop in the carrots, red dates, and goji berries. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 40–50 minutes, until the lamb is fork-tender. Remove the lid, fish out and discard the ginger, scallions, carrots, and spent spices. Season with chicken essence, MSG, and the toasted ground cumin.
4
Serve
Bring the clay pot to the table accompanied by small plates of fried gluten puffs, firm tofu, napa cabbage, and cilantro. Diners typically start by eating the lamb from the pot, and once warmed up, use the rich broth to hot-pot cook the side dishes and any additional meat or vegetable ingredients.
