Spice up your lamb with this cumin-heavy spice mix

The secret to these skewers lies in the bold spice mix and high-heat grilling, which creates an intoxicating charred crust.

Cucumber salad and lamb cumin skewers — recipes by Lennox Hastie. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Travel does more than broaden the mind. We live in a world of borrowed flavours, wherein many of the ingredients we assume to be our everyday staples once journeyed across continents.

The Silk Road, the Spice Route and the maritime trading of the Portuguese and the Dutch have each left their own indelible stamp. While the Moors left their mark on Andalucía with citrus and spice-laden dishes, the Persians brought saffron, cardamom and dried fruits to India, and Portuguese explorers introduced chillies from the Americas, shaping Thai and Indian cuisine.

I used to think there was something strange about seeing lamb and cumin in a Chinese restaurant, but Xinjiang’s lamb skewers – an iconic street food from northwest China – are a result of migration and cultural fusion stretching back centuries. The region’s Uyghur people, who have Turkic roots, developed a rich tradition of grilling meat over open flames combined with the currency of spices traded along the Silk Road.

There is something primal about meat on a stick, which is best expressed over fire. The secret to these skewers lies in the bold spice mix and high-heat grilling, which creates an intoxicating charred crust, combining cumin and Sichuan with a pinch of sugar to round out the flavours.

On the side, you need something to cut through the heat. As a young chef I spent years slicing vegetables into precise forms with often obscure French names like brunoise, paysanne, jardinière and macédoine. Often with a ruler in hand, the discipline was exacting, with hours spent labouring over a chopping board seeking perfection. A millimetre too large or uneven in shape and the head chef would send it back, often in the form of a projectile at my head. It was a kind of meditation, or maybe a madness; one celebrated chef even commanded me to brunoise baby broad beans, which remains one of the craziest things I’ve ever done.

In comparison, a smashed cucumber salad screams of almost absurd simplicity. The cucumbers are broken with the back of a cleaver or a rolling pin until they crack and split open, releasing their pale green flesh and seeds.

The joy is in the breaking – the way the cucumbers give way, fracturing into irregular pieces that seem to grasp onto flavours more stubbornly than any neatly sliced shape ever could. Chilled and dressed with rice vinegar, garlic, ginger and chilli, the cool crunch brings ­relief to the spiced lamb.

Food is a universal conversation that never ends. It doesn’t have borders, so that a spice, a technique or a recipe may be passed from one hand to another, creating dishes that recognise where we have been, and opening our eyes to where we might go next.

The secret to success with these lamb skewers is in the spicing. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Char the meat on the barbecue or grill for a smoky, delicious taste. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Xinjiang lamb skewers

Ingredients

• 600g diced lamb (preferably something a little fatty like rump or shoulder)
• 4 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 4 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 30ml soy sauce
• 10ml grapeseed oil
• 10g fresh ginger, finely chopped
• Zest and juice of ½ lime
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• Handful coriander, torn
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

Method

1. First make the dry spice mix – toast the cumin and fennel seeds in a dry pan on a low heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
2. Place the seeds in a mortar and pestle and, adding the Sichuan pepper and sugar, grind to a coarse powder. In a bowl, combine half of the spice mix with the soy sauce, oil, ginger, lime zest and juice.
3. Add the diced lamb and massage the spices into the meat before letting it marinate for at least 2 hours to absorb the flavours. Reserve the remaining spice mix for later.
4. Thread the marinated lamb onto skewers (if using wooden skewers be sure to soak them in water for at least 1-2 hours prior).
5. Fire up your grill or barbecue until smoking hot. Grill the skewers over a high heat for 2-3 minutes per side, turning frequently, until deeply charred and cooked through.
6. Sprinkle with the reserved spice mixture all over them and roll on the grill for another minute. Transfer the skewers to a plate and finish with the spring onions, coriander and red chilli.

Serves 3-4

A cooling cucumber salad with plenty of flavour. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Smashed cucumbers are not refined but lots of fun: Nikki To / TWAM

Smashed cucumber salad

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers (approximately 400g)
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 10g fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chilli oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon mirin or sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• Handful coriander, chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Place the cucumbers on a sturdy surface and use the flat side of a knife or a rolling pin to lightly smash them until they split. Tear them into bite-sized chunks.
2. Sprinkle with salt, place in the fridge to chill and let sit for 10-12 minutes to draw out excess moisture.
3. Strain off the excess moisture and pat dry with kitchen towel.
4. In a bowl, mix together the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chilli oil, sesame oil, mirin and rice vinegar.
5. Drain any liquid released from the cucumbers and toss them with the dressing. Let sit for at least 5 minutes for the flavours to meld. Sprinkle with the coriander, spring onion and toasted sesame seeds.

Serves 3-4