Ricky&Pinky’s Northern Style Lamb

• 1 x 1.5 kg lamb should on the bone
• 3 litres of canola oil for frying
• 1 small jar Gan Mar brand crispy chilli in oil
• 1tsp whole Sichuan chilli, roasted and ground
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 8 steamed bao

Lamb Marinade

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp yellow bean paste
• 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp Korean chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Soy bean sauce

• 3tbsp light soy sauce
• 3tbsp soy bean paste

Gluten free flour

• 2tbsp glutinous rice flour
• 2tbsp rice flour
• 2tbsp tapioca flour

Sesame dressing

• 60g healthy boy soy
• 20g black vinegar
• 30g tahini
• 12g sugar
• 20g sesame oil
• 1/2 spring onion, rough chop
• 1 garlic clove, rough chop
• 13g ginger, rough chop
• 1/2 tsp white peppercorns
• 20g sesame oil
• 60g blend oil

Pickled cucumbers

• 200g of sugar
• 200g of rice wine vinegar
• 4g Sichuan peppercorns toasted
• 5g small dried small red chills
• 60g gluten free soy
• 20g ginger, sliced
• 1 continental cucumber (Shredded face down on a mandolin, on a large setting)

Instructions

In a bowl, mix together the light soy, yellow bean paste, shaoxing, cumin, five spice, Korean chilli, and sugar.

Take a heavy, deep roasting tin, large enough to fit the lamb shoulder.

Rub the marinade all over the meat, put it in the tin and cover with plastic wrap; leave to marinade for a few hours, ideally in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat your oven to 150C.

Remove the plastic wrap form the lamb and add 250 ml of water to the roasting tin. Cover the lamb tightly with aluminum foil and roast the lamb in the oven for two hours. Reduce the oven temperature to 110C and cook for a further four hours. Check every so often, and add a little water if the tin becomes dry. Remove the foil form the tin and roast for the last hour of roasting to crisp up the skin.

Let the lamb cool long enough to handle, and then break the lamb into eight pieces.

For the Soybean sauce

Whisk both the soy sauce and soybean paste together.

Meanwhile, prepare the gluten free flour by combining all flours together and passing them through a fine sieve to remove any lumps.

For the sesame dressing

Sauté the ginger, spring onion and garlic in a little oil, then transfer to a blender with the rest of the ingredients except the oil and blend on a high speed. Slowly pour in the oil to thicken and emulsify.

For the pickled cucumbers

Roast the Sichuan pepper in a frying pan on high heat until it starts to smoke and become very fragrant. Combine with the rest of the pickled cucumber ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for five minutes. Pour over the cucumber and let pickle for at least two hours.

Roast the Sichuan pepper and cumin seeds separately in a frying pan over a medium heat until they become toasted and fragrant; let them cool and roughly crush in a mortar and pestle.

Drain off all the oil form the fried chilli condiment reserving both the oil and crispy chilly for serving.

When ready to serve:

Take a large pot with three litres of canola oil and warm it to 180° C on your stove.

Coat each piece of lamb with the soybean dressing and drain off excess, then coat evenly in the gluten free flour.

Deep-fry the lamb pieces for 5 minutes (until hot and crispy).

Remove from the pot and place into a bowl with:

1. 5 tbsp of the sesame dressing
2. 2 tbsp of the reserved crispy chilli
3. 2 tbsp of the pickled cucumbers
4. 1 tsp of the crushed cumin seeds
5. 1 tsp of the crushed Sichuan pepper.

Using a wooden spoon, smash the lamb into smaller pieces, making sure you mix all the ingredients well together and that the lamb is well dressed.

Transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with one tablespoon of the reserved chilli oil.

Serve with hot steamed bao.