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Lamb brisket pot
羊腩煲
“Braise the lamb slowly until it is tender. Eat it first, then add the soup for hotpot.”
Ingredientsserves 6
Equipment
- A clay pot or a heavy cast-iron casserole, for the braise in the kitchen
- Never heat a clay pot empty, and never put a cold one straight onto a high flame
- A hotpot no wider than the cassette stove's pot stand and never reaching over the canister compartment: the lamb goes into it with its sauce for the table, and the stock goes in once the lamb is eaten
How the time splits
- 15 minChop the lamb and blanch it from coldhands on
- 20 minFry the ginger, garlic and shallots, dry-fry the lamb, add the sauceshands on
- 1 hr 30 minAdd water and braise over a low flamehands off
- 20 minAdd the beancurd sticks, water chestnuts and shiitake and braise againhands off
Method
- Blanch the lamb. Put it in a pot of cold water with half the ginger and 1 tablespoon of the wine, bring it to the boil and boil for five minutes, then lift it out, rinse under cold water and drain. Most of the gamey smell is in the blood, so do not skip this.
- Mash the fermented beancurd, red fermented beancurd and chu hou paste together in a bowl.
- Heat the oil in a wok and fry the rest of the ginger, the garlic and the shallots until fragrant. Add the lamb and stir-fry over a high flame for about five minutes, until the surface is dry and the skin has tightened a little; the sauce only soaks in once the water is gone.
- Add the sauce and toss well, splash in the remaining 2 tablespoons of wine, add the tangerine peel and rock sugar, and tip everything into the clay pot. Add water just to cover the lamb.
- Bring the clay pot to the boil over a medium flame, then turn it to the lowest flame, cover and braise for an hour and a half, turning the lamb every twenty minutes and adding boiling water if the liquid runs low. Too hard a flame shrinks the skin and leaves it tough; only a low one makes it tender.
- Add the beancurd sticks, water chestnuts and shiitake and braise for another twenty minutes, until a chopstick goes into the lamb easily and the sauce has thickened. Taste, and if it needs salt, add a little of the fermented beancurd liquid.
- Tip the lamb and its sauce into the hotpot and take it to the table. The lamb is eaten first, with lettuce. When only a little lamb and sauce are left, pour in the stock and enough boiling water to fill the pot about 60 per cent, and once it is at a full boil it is hotpot. Top it up with boiling water, not more salt.
The short route
- Braise the lamb the night before and keep it in the fridge. The next day the fat sets on top; lift off half of it and reheat. The flavour goes deeper and it is less greasy.
- A jar of lamb pot sauce from a supermarket or Chinese grocer in place of your own mix; blanch and braise slowly as above.
What goes in this pot
- The lamb: eaten first, with lettuce
- Dried beancurd sticks and fried tofu puffs: they soak up the lamb sauce
- Tofu skin: a few seconds in the pot
- Fish balls and beef balls: a minute more once they float
- Lettuce and Taiwanese lettuce: eaten as soon as they wilt
- Glass noodles or rice vermicelli: to finish
The sauce plate
Safe at the table
- Indoors, an induction plate or an electric hotpot is the safe choice. Australia’s gas safety regulators say butane cartridge stoves are for outdoor use only, because of the risk of carbon monoxide. If you do use one indoors, as Hong Kong homes do, keep it well ventilated, and never in a small or closed-up room.
- With a portable gas stove, never use a pot wider than the pot stand, about 20 cm at most unless the maker’s instructions allow more, and never one that reaches over the canister compartment. Never put two stoves side by side, and never leave one burning.
- Fit and remove the canister away from any flame or heat, with its notch facing up. Check for leaks with soapy water first, and do not use a stove that leaks or is damaged. Never put the stove on another cooker (an induction plate especially) or on anything hot, and put nothing between stove and pot that the maker did not supply: no foil, no extra stand.
- Buy a stove certified for Australia, set it on a level surface that will not burn, never on glass, and do not run it longer than the maker’s instructions allow. Keep sprays, lighters and paper well away. When you finish, turn it off, take the canister out and store it somewhere cool, dry and ventilated, never in a car or in the sun.
- Keep raw and cooked apart: use a separate pair of chopsticks or a slotted spoon for raw meat and seafood, and never eat from them.
- After topping the pot up, wait for it to come back to a full boil before anything goes in.
- Chicken, pork, liver and seafood must be cooked through before eating. Sliced pig’s liver needs at least three to five minutes at a full boil; Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety advises at least five minutes for seafood; clams boil until they open and then three to five minutes more, and any that stay shut are thrown away. Enoki boils at least two minutes and is never eaten raw.
- For pregnant women, children under five, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system: beef until no pink remains, and seafood for the full five minutes.
- Raw meat plates stay out no longer than two hours. Leftovers go into the fridge within two hours, keep no more than three days, and are reheated only once, until boiling hot.
Take care
- Fermented beancurd, red fermented beancurd and chu hou paste contain soy, and chu hou paste usually contains wheat (gluten); the beancurd sticks contain soy; the soy in the saucers contains soy and wheat.
- Keep raw lamb away from other food, and wash your hands, the board and the knife after handling it. Never heat a clay pot empty, and never set a hot one down on a cold or wet surface, or it will crack. Once the stock is in, wait for a full boil after every top-up before raw food goes in.
The story
Lamb brisket with beancurd sticks is a Cantonese winter dish, and Hong Kong people say the first cold day makes them want it. Eat the lamb, then add stock to the sauce left behind for hotpot: one pot, two meals.
Same kind
Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.