Grilled Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Lamb Leg Steaks (燒烤孜然花椒羊肉, Siu1 Haau1 Zi1 Jin4 Faa1 Ziu1 Joeng4 Juk6)

Lamb leg steaks are sometimes available at my local market. I can always find either bone-in and boneless whole lamb legs, but unless I want to grill a whole leg (recipes: Grilled Butterflied Lamb Leg and Grilled Mesquite-Smoked Garlic Rosemary Lamb), lamb leg steaks can be more convenient to cook. The spice paste used to season the lamb is not hot, but spicy and flavorful. You can apply the spice paste one hour before grilling, but the lamb will taste better if left to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. If you want more heat, just add and grind dried red chili peppers to the mixture.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1½ lb.	750 g.	Two lamb leg steaks (羊肉, joeng4  juk6)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Whole cumin (孜然, zi1 jin4), ground
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Whole Sichuan peppercorns (花椒, faa1 ziu1) ), ground
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Whole black pepper (黑椒, hak1 ziu1) ), ground
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Whole white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1) ), ground
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Salt (鹽, jim4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Oil (油, jau4)
12	12	Button mushrooms (蘑菇, mo4 gu1)

 

Equipment

		Spice or coffee grinder
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

 

Instructions

1. Place the whole cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, black and white pepper, and salt into a spice or coffee grinder. Grind the spices and place the ground spices into a large covered container that will hold all the lamb steaks. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and add to the spice mixture. Add the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry and oil to the spice mixture, and mix all the ingredients together to form a paste in the large container. If the paste mixture seems too dry, add more oil.
2. Coat each lamb steak in the spice paste. Allow the lamb to marinate in the spice paste for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator. If marinating the lamb overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Soak the wood for smoking (pecan, oak, or any other wood can be used) for one hour if desired. I use dry and not soaked wood.
3. Clean the button mushrooms.
4. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for direct cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly.
5. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals on one half of the grill. The side of the grill with the coals (the “hot” side) will be used to grill the lamb and the side without the coals (the “cool” side) will be used for smoking the lamb. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for direct cooking. Put the smoking wood onto the coals or as per the instructions for the gas grill.
6. Place the lamb and mushrooms on the hot side of the grill. Cooking times may need to be adjusted depending upon the heat of your grill. Allow the lamb to brown for 1½ to 2 minutes uncovered. Rotate the lamb 90⁰ to produce cross-hatched grill marks. Allow the lamb to brown for another 1½ to 2 minutes uncovered. Flip the lamb over and allow to brown for 1½ to 2 minutes uncovered, and then move the lamb and mushrooms to the cool side of the grill.
7. Cover the grill to smoke the lamb for 3 minutes. Remove the lamb and mushrooms from the grill, and allow the lamb to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Be careful not to overcook the lamb leg steaks. The temperature of your fire and previous experience with your grill will determine the total cooking time for the lamb.