Cumin Lamb
Xinjiang-style lamb crusted in toasted cumin and chili, seared hard and fast. Smoky, aromatic, and on the table in twenty minutes.
Cumin lamb comes from Xinjiang in China’s far northwest, where the food owes as much to Central Asia as to anywhere further east. Lamb, cumin, chili, and open fire are the vocabulary — this is skewer food from night markets, adapted here to a wok.
Two things make it work. The first is whole toasted cumin, used in a quantity that looks like a mistake. Two tablespoons for a pound and a quarter of meat is right. Ground cumin coats and muddies; whole seeds toast, pop, and stay distinct.
The second is heat and restraint. Get the pan as hot as it goes, lay the lamb down in a single layer, and then leave it alone for a full ninety seconds. The urge to stir is strong and wrong — that undisturbed contact is what produces the charred crust the dish depends on.
Instructions
- 1
Toss the lamb with 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and the cornstarch. Rest 15 minutes.
- 2
Toast the cumin seeds and Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 minutes, until intensely fragrant. Coarsely crush about half of them and leave the rest whole — you want both the aroma and the texture of whole seeds.
- 3
Heat the oil in a wok over the highest heat you have until it just smokes.
- 4
Add the lamb in one layer and sear undisturbed for 90 seconds. Do not touch it — this is where the char comes from. Then stir-fry 1 minute more and remove.
- 5
Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry 2 minutes until the onion softens at the edges but keeps its shape.
- 6
Return the lamb. Add the cumin, chili flakes, remaining soy sauce and wine, and the sugar. Toss hard for 1 minute so the spices coat everything.
- 7
Kill the heat, fold in the cilantro, and serve immediately.
Cook’s Notes
- Whole cumin seeds, toasted, and mostly left whole. Ground cumin turns the dish dusty and muddy; whole seeds pop against the meat and are the signature of the dish.
- Two tablespoons of cumin is correct. This is a cumin dish with lamb in it, not a lamb dish with a pinch of cumin.
- Sear in batches if the pan is crowded. Lamb releases liquid fast, and once there is liquid in the pan you are stewing rather than searing.
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