Ever heard of five spice powder? It is usually to cook duck - braised or roasted (mmmm...) and many other Chinese dishes. This special powder can enhance your dish in the most amazing ways. It works great with meat. The 5 spice powder usually consists of Chinese Cinnamon (the bark of the Cassia tree - which is a close relative to the Cinammon), powdered Cassia buds, powdered star anise & anise seed, ginger root and ground cloves. And it has a really nice smell. Today, we're using 5 spice to spice-up my lamb shank. I marinated this one night before and I can tell you the spices and the rest of the ingredients just seep right through the meat and you can taste it after you've cooked your lamb shank. If you like your lamb to be sweet with a bit of zesty taste follow these easy few steps and you just need the following:Five Spice Lamb Shank
Ingredients:
Lamb leg (the lower bit) - around 4 pieces/1 kg
3 Cloves of Garlic
2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of 5 spice
A handful of Thyme (fresh)/1 1/2 tablespoon of dried thyme
2 teaspoon of Rosemary (If fresh - a few plugs of it)
2 teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper
1 tablespoon of Honey Hickory BBQ sauce/ Honey
3 tablespoon of HP sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoon of Tomato Sauce
Method:
Slice the lamb meat (horizontal to the bone) so that the marinate will seep in and it will cook nicely inside. Then, Place the lamb legs in a Zipbag and dump all the ingredients into the bag or you can mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour the sauce in the bag. The cloves of Garlic are to be smashed and left as a whole or you can chop it up for a more garlic-ey flavour. Massage through, making sure the lamb is covered with all the sauces and the herbs. Refridgerate it for a night or a few hours.
In a baking tray, lay it with aluminium foil (you can do without if you use a deep tray) and add a few tablespoon of Olive oil. Place the lamb legs on the oiled tray (Can add finely cut Large Onion sprinkled on top) and put it in oven at Gas number 6-7 for around 40-45 minutes. Thicker meat will take a longer time. The heat should be medium low at all time in order for it to stay juicy.
Enjoy your lamb shank with salad, rice or potatoes! Slurps!
Serves: 4 - 5
