Cumin Lamb

4.93 from 27 votes

This cumin lamb recipe is our take on a classic dish from Xinjiang, China. It's not hard to make an authentic plate of cumin lamb in your home kitchen!

Prep Time35

Cook Time10

Total Time45

Course: Lamb

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 445kcal

Author: Judy

Ingredients

To marinate the lamb:

1 pound lamb (450g, preferably shoulder, cut into ½-inch by 2-inch pieces)
1 tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon oil (optional, if you have a fattier cut of lamb)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine

For the rest of the dish:

2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons oil
2 red chili peppers (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon Sichuan red pepper flakes (or chili powder)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 scallions (chopped)
Large handful of chopped cilantro
Salt (to taste)

Instructions

Pad lamb dry with paper towel before cutting. Once cut, combine the lamb with the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Set aside and let marinate for 30 minutes.
Once the lamb has been marinated, heat a wok over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds to the wok and dry toast them until fragrant. Turn off the heat, remove the cumin from the wok, and set aside.
Now heat the wok over the highest setting until it starts to smoke. Add two tablespoons of oil to coat the wok, and then immediately add the lamb. Sear the meat until it turns brown and starts to crisp slightly. The high heat will sear the meat, but keep it tender as well.
Now add the cooked cumin seeds, chili, red pepper flakes (or powder), sugar, scallions, cilantro, and salt. Toss everything together quickly (so that the scallion and cilantro are just wilted), and transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot with plenty of white rice!

Nutrition

Cumin Lamb by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/cumin-lamb/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-28815":{"type":"food","name":"Cumin Lamb","slug":"wprm-cumin-lamb","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/cumin-lamb-2.jpg","rating":{"count":27,"total":133,"average":4.93,"type":{"comment":27,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","name":"lamb","notes":"(450g, preferably shoulder, cut into \u00bd-inch by 2-inch pieces)","id":2659,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":1,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","unitParsed":"pound"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"cumin","notes":"","id":418,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":2,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"1 1\/2","unit":"teaspoons","name":"cornstarch","notes":"","id":267,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1 1\/2","unit":"teaspoons","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":3,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1 1\/2","unit":"teaspoons","unitParsed":"teaspoons"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"oil","notes":"(optional, if you have a fattier cut of lamb)","id":268,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":4,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"light soy sauce","notes":"","id":330,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":5,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"Shaoxing rice wine","notes":"","id":296,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":6,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"cumin seeds","notes":"","id":757,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":8,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"oil","notes":"","id":268,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":9,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"","name":"red chili peppers","notes":"(chopped)","id":2660,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":10,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"Sichuan red pepper flakes","notes":"(or chili powder)","id":2679,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":11,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sugar","notes":"","id":273,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":12,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"","name":"scallions","notes":"(chopped)","id":259,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":13,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Large handful of chopped cilantro","notes":"","id":2662,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"","unit":"","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":14,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Salt","notes":"(to taste)","id":260,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"","unit":"","timestamp":1774154276000},"type":"ingredient","uid":15,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}}],"originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"currentServings":"4","currentServingsParsed":4,"currentServingsFormatted":"4","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}