Making Roast Lamb Ribs in the Northwest Chinese Style: A Step-by-Step Guide

When it comes to cooking lamb ribs, many people are familiar with the classic cumin-laden rub often associated with Chinese barbecue. However, what sets these ribs apart is their unique texture, which is achieved through a combination of braising and roasting techniques. In this article, we will take you through the process of making roast lamb ribs in the Northwest Chinese style, from preparation to serving.

Preparation: Soaking in Ginger-Sichuan Peppercorn Water

To begin, we need to prepare our lamb ribs by soaking them in a mixture of ginger and Sichuan peppercorns. This step is crucial in removing any "lamby odor" that may be present in the meat. To make this mixture, combine crushed ginger, whole Sichuan peppercorns, and hot boiled water in a pot. Let it cool down to room temperature before adding the ribs.

Trimming Excess Fat

After soaking, drain out the liquid and trim any excess fat from the lamb ribs. This is an important step as roast lamb ribs are known for being fatty cuts of meat. Use scissors or a sharp knife to remove any unwanted fat, and set it aside to be rendered later.

Making the Braising Liquid

In a separate pot, combine Sichuan peppercorns, smashed ginger, dried chilis, Welsh onion (or scallion), and enough water to submerge the lamb ribs. Bring the mixture to a light boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about five minutes. Switch off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

The Cover-and-Cool Technique

This step is where things get interesting. We'll use the cover-and-cool technique to cook our lamb ribs. This involves covering the pot with a lid and letting it sit at room temperature for several hours or overnight. This slow cooking process helps break down the connective tissues in the meat, making it tender and juicy.

Seasoning and Marinating

Once our lamb ribs have cooled down, we can season them with a mixture of Chinese roast lamb seasoning (which we'll make later). To marinate the ribs, use sunflower oil to rub them liberally and massage the seasoning into the meat. This step may seem counterintuitive, as some people argue that surface treatment won't penetrate deeply enough into the meat. However, we can attest that this method makes a significant difference in the final product.

Marinating and Roasting

After marinating for at least 30 minutes (or overnight), remove the lamb ribs from the oil and place them on a baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F) and roast the lamb ribs for about 15 minutes, turning halfway through. This high-temperature roasting method helps achieve a nice crust on the outside while keeping the inside juicy.

Serving and Garnishing

Once our lamb ribs are done, let them cool down slightly before serving. To add an extra touch of flavor, sprinkle some seasoned chili powder on top of the ribs. Our roast lamb ribs are now ready to be devoured!

Alternative Method: Deep Frying with Frozen Lamb

For those who prefer a crisper exterior and a cleaner "lamby" taste, they can use frozen lamb instead of fresh meat. To do this, cook the frozen lamb in hot oil until it's golden brown and crispy. This method yields a delicious result, but be aware that it requires more effort and specialized equipment.

Conceptualizing a Full Chinese Meal

For those who want to create an authentic full Chinese meal, our channel recently collaborated with "Blondie in China" on a cooking video. We visited the local market together and picked up ingredients to cook a hearty Cantonese-style home-cooked meal. If you're interested in seeing how we make daily food, check out the video link in the description box.

A Big Thank You!

Finally, we want to extend our gratitude to everyone who has supported us on Patreon. Your contributions help us continue creating high-quality content for you. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more Chinese cooking videos and recipes!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enToday, we wanted to show you how to make roastlamb ribs in the Northwest Chinese style.These’ve been heavily requested for a whilein the comments, and why not?They’re an absolute classic, complete witha cumin laden rub that should be instantlyfamiliar to anyone that’s ever had Chinesebarbecue.But what makes these ribs so interesting tome is their texture – this kind of falloff the bone situation isn’t accomplishedby just roasting – at their core, theseribs are actually braised.But I’m getting ahead of myself – first,let’s talk lamb.Here we’re using three ribs, but when Isay “rib”…I’m talking the whole thing, sliced in halfinto the spare rib and the chop.If you’re in the West, I do kinda worrythat the standard frenched rack of chops mightbe a bit too lean, so unless you know a butcherI’d probably opt for solely spare rib..which’s got fat a plenty.So now to prep those, we’ll first give thosea soak those in ginger-Sichuan peppercornwater, which’ll get out some of that shanweior “lamby odor”.So yeah, lamby odor… usually the go to ingredientin China to balance that mild funk is liaojiuor Shaoxing wine.Complication?A good chunk of China’s Northwest are Muslimso wine is obviously a no go.So instead to a pot you can add in a coupleinches of crushed ginger, a half a tablespoonof whole Sichuan peppercorn, and a liter anda half of hot boiled water.This liquid can serve much the same functionas Shaoxing wine, so if you’re cooking forpeople keeping Halal, there’s your Shaoxingsub.Now just let that come down to room temperature,then toss in the ribs.If you’re feeling a little lazy you canalso just opt for plain old drinking waterinstead, but either way let that soak forone hour.An hour later, drain out the water and you’llsee that it’s extracted a lot of the myoglobinfrom the meat.Now to trim those, know roast lamb ribs areabsolutely a pretty fatty cut but sometimesyou’ll find a little excess handing off.Just cut that out and keep it - we’ll renderit into an oil later.So now toss your lamb in a pot… then addin a half tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorn,two inches of smashed ginger, four thoroughlydeseeded dried chilis, and about one Dacongor welsh onion, and feel free to swap fora bit of scallion if Dacong’s annoying tosource.So then with enough water to submerge thelamb, toss on a burner, cover, and over amedium high flame bring that all up to a lightboil.Then once its starting to get to a heavy simmer,skip away some of the gunk.We won’t be using the liquid after thisso you don’t have to be too obsessive here,we just don’t want so much that it endsup sticking to our lamb when we take it out.Then swap the flame to low, keep it simmeringfor about five minutes, then shut off theheat.Keep covered, and we’ll come back to thatin about 90 minutes once it’s approachingroom temperature.Now, recently we’ve been doing this cover-and-cooldown technique quite a bit.We quite like it because it’s easy and itmakes for really evenly cooked meat.Slowly dropping the temperature from 90ishto 40ish means that this’s soaking somewherebetween poaching temperature and a bag-lesssous vide.But feel free to crack this nut however youwant… you could do a straight braise…a lot of lamb restaurants in China actuallyuse pressure cookers for this, and a sousvide set to like 65C might be nice too.But either way, as that’s cooking, let’stalk spice mix.So there’s a few different spice mixes usedin Chinese barbecue, but if you’ve everhad Yangrouchuanr lamb skewers you probablyate something similar to this.This uses five parts cumin seed, so here weused five teaspoons, half ground in a coffeeor spice grinder… so only grind for aboutten seconds or so, we want something aboutthis consistency.Then also grind up one part, or one teaspoon,of fennel seed… this time getting it intoa fine powder.We’ll also need one teaspoon each of saltand chili powder… and for something likethis cayenne pepper should work just fine.Then this also uses a half teaspoon of MSG…crystals pounded into a fine powder, togetherwith two and a half teaspoons of toasted sesameseeds… lightly pounded in a mortar.The goal for the sesame’s to to break opensome of the seeds to get a bit of oil… butyou’re not looking for a powder or anything.Something like this is perfect.So then just mix that together, and you’vegot yourself some Chinese roast lamb seasoning.Now back to the ribs, remove, toss on a rackand pat them with some paper towels.Any leftover moisture here’ll end up inhibitbrowning when we roast, so this needs to getreally dry.Let those sit for at least 30 minutes, andhere I did 90 because I am… paranoid.But then after that time, we can marinate.To help make these a bit juicier and get thecoating to stick, you’ll need oil.For this we used about a tablespoon of sunfloweroil and let that excess lamb fat render outin it… which is totally super delicious,but basically any oil’ll do the job.So rub those lamb pieces liberally with thatoil, which’ll likely end up being two tothree tablespoons worth, then sprinkle yourseasoning on, similarly massaging that in.Now before the marinade police swoop in andtell me that this’s all just surface treatment…how it’ll only penetrate like an eighthinch or so into the meat… next time you’rehaving a rare steak try cutting off and removingthe outermost eighth of an inch and tell mehow much of a difference that would make tothe dish.Surface or not, the surface does matter, soleave that to marinate for at least thirtyminutes, but overnight is ideal if you canswing it.So next day now, take out the lamb and tosson a baking sheet.Now, the idea here’s to blast this for ashort time at high temperature, but unfortunatelyno matter how hard we try the very hottestour crappy little halogen oven can get is220 centigrade.So we tossed that in for 15 minutes, turninghalfway through, but feel free to play aroundwith shorter times at higher temperatures.Then after that time, our lamb is done.Let that cool off a touch, serve it with abit of seasoned chili powder – recipe inthe description – and… devour.Xibei style roast lamb ribs… done.So for many restaurants – especially downhere in the south south – they would usefrozen lamb… and then they would opt forthe deep frying method, which would give thelamb a more like cleaner, less lamby taste.So right!Many of you may have the question of how weconceptualize a full Chinese meal.So the other day we did a little collaborationwith the channel “Blondie in China” – andwe went to our local market, picked up food,and came back and cooked a full Cantonesehomecooked meal.So if you’re curious to see how we makeour daily food, definite check out the videohere.And, as always, check out the Reddit linkin the description box for a detailed recipe,a big thank you for everyone supporting uson Patreon, and as always… subscribe formore Chinese cooking videos.\n"