In The Centre #4 | Lip-numbing lamb skewers and snake cut courgettes
Does that sound appetising?! It sure is tasty... read on for the recipe.
It always begins with an itch
… which morphs into a craving, and then an all consuming MUST HAVE.
My favourite meals and recipes frequently start out this way.
The specific itch I had was for Uyghur / Xinjiang-style lamb skewers — niblets of lamb, pushed onto skewers, grilled until both intra and extra-muscular fat sizzles, and then dusted with cumin, various shades of pepper including, sometimes, the citrusy tingle of Sichuan peppercorns.
As luck would have it, they’re not so hard to find in London, and I got a little hit on Saturday evening. But to be honest it barely scratched the sides.
Itches and cravings are good, though. In part, because if you can successfully meet them, then the pleasure of eating is multiplied. But also because (I find) they tend to prompt creative thought.
For example, those skewers are really no more than a snack or a prelude to other things; not something I can justify cooking when a full meal is required. But as part of a rice bowl, partnered by other fresh, succulent and tart things … now we’re on to something.
This train of thought (after a few others I won’t bore you with) sent me down a ‘snake cut’ cucumber rabbit hole. I tried various methods. More on which below, although one of my conclusions was that small courgettes (zucchini) are a GREAT alternative to the (preferred) mini Persian cucumbers, which are not so easy for everyone in the UK (at least) to get hold of.
Whichever weapon you choose, bendy, stretchy, concertina-like snakes are a joy to make and eat. The kind of thing that, once made once, will become an essential part of your repertoire.
The final element of the dish needed to be tart — to cut through the rich, intensely savoury and spicy lamb and cucumber. A sharply dressed wood ear mushroom salad would have been truer to the theme, but I always have soy pickled (rehydrated) shiitake mushrooms in my fridge. They’re juicy and enlivening, piquant and a little sweet. I chuck them on lots of fridge-foraged meals and they were predictably perfect here. You should absolutely make them — whether for this dish or not.
(Alternatively, if you’re into the lamb and snakes, but haven’t got a stash of those mushrooms ready, other quick pickled vegetables would work too. Particularly thinly sliced radishes, daikon or carrots.)
Get cooking
Here’s a little trailer. Do have a watch (sound on), then keep scrolling.
Everything is outlined below: additional details as to the best cut of lamb for the job; how to ‘snake cut’ cucumbers and courgettes); and of course recipes for the lamb, the snakes, the mushrooms, and the rice. It’s for paid subscribers — but it’s a good one, come join us.
