DELECTABLE Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin Sauce & Sesame!

Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin Sauce & Sesame

These lamb ribs are luscious and require just 10 minutes prep! Just marinate and slow roast for the most delectable, fall-off-the-bone lamb ribs. Best of all the sauce is easy with a base of hoi sin sauce, ginger and sesame oil! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

I served these sticky Asian style lamb ribs on a bed of creamed polenta with a tomato, caper and mint salsa. The lamb ribs are so full of flavour that the comforting, mild flavour of polenta suited it well while the tomato salsa gave the rich lamb a piquancy.

What are lamb ribs? Are they different from lamb rack or cutlets? Lamb ribs are different from lamb rack. Lamb ribs have straighter bones with shorter bones (much like pork ribs) and come from the lower part of the rib cage either from the breast or belly and are best low and slow cooked as they can be a bit tough otherwise. Lamb rack/cutlets are longer and more curved as they come from the top or upper part of the lamb's ribcage and can be pan fried or grilled and served pink. Lamb rack is an expensive cut as it contains the prized meaty rib eye while lamb ribs are less expensive as they have comparatively less meat and are more fatty - they are a very unctuous cut. Lamb cutlets are readily available from most shops and butchers while lamb ribs are a more recently popular cut and may need to be ordered in.

Lamb ribs: separate or not to separate? if you separate the lamb ribs they will be stickier and a little drier but if you keep the rack whole then it will be juicier or more moist in texture.

Other lamb rib recipes: Lamb ribs are one of my favourite cuts. Check out these other lamb rib recipes: Sticky Lamb Ribs, Slow Cooked Lamb Ribs With Mint Sauce, Glazed Pomegranate Lamb Riblets and Lamb Ribs With Kasundi

Make the polenta just before serving: cooked polenta solidifies once cooled so it isn't ideal to make ahead of time. I had forgotten how quickly it solidifies and so when it came to serving it I had to make another batch so that was a last minute surprise when I went to serve these at a dinner party!

Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin Sauce & Sesame

Speaking of unexpected surprises, I served these lamb ribs when Queen Viv came over for dinner. She had just arrived and we were all sitting down, having wine and canapes when suddenly Queen Viv made a sharp intake of breath followed by a ghastly strangled cry. Her eyes widened as she looked behind me and there was a look of sheer horror emblazoned on her face.

I have wondered what it's like to be in a horror movie and this was the moment I found out. I turned around expecting the absolute worst - like a Stranger Things style Demogorgon behind me.

So what was it that terrorised Queen Viv so much? It was my dear little taxidermied Mochi Elliott that sat on a shelf in the living room. I thought I had mentioned to her that I had taxidermied her but clearly I hadn't.

"Would you like to pet her?" I ask Queen Viv between gulps of laughter. My response was to collapse with laughter because to me Mochi is the least scary thing in the world.

"Nooo!!" she gasped clutching her chest.

Mochi used to sit in my office but there was a black mould problem so we moved her out to the living room near my desk set up. "She likes being in the lounge room so she can look over me," I said. "You just grieve how you want to," she said recovering quickly and smoothing down her skirt and wiping away tears of laughter.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you have a favourite lamb cut? When have you been the most frightened in your life? How did you react?

Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin & Sesame Sauce

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An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 2.5 hours

Degree of difficulty: very easy

  • 1.25kgs/2.8lbs. lamb ribs
  • 100ml/3.5ozs hoi sin sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 40ml/1.5ozs hoi sin sauce to glaze
  • 2 tablespoons black and white sesame seeds

Creamed polenta

  • 250g/8.8ozs. instant polenta
  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin Sauce & Sesame

Step 1 - Mix the first lot of hoi sin sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger and sesame oil in a bowl. Place the ribs and the marinade in a zip lock bag and massage the sauce through the ribs making sure that the meaty side gets covered with sauce. Marinate the lamb ribs for an hour at room temperature.

Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin Sauce & Sesame

Step 2 - Preheat oven to 150C/300F and line a deep baking tray twice with foil. Place the ribs on top of the foil and then cover with another sheet of foil (make sure that the foil doesn't touch the ribs or they'll stick). Bake for 2 hours if the ribs are separated or bake for 2.5 hours if attached.

Lamb Ribs With Hoi Sin Sauce & Sesame

Step 3 - Brush with the extra hoi sin sauce on the meaty side and sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake meaty side up without the foil covering at 180C/350F for 15 minutes or until caramelised.

Step 4 - When the ribs are done, cover again with foil and allow to rest. Make the polenta. Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the salt and dissolve and then add the polenta in a thin stream and stir to thicken making sure to break up any lumps. When it starts to pull away from the sides it is ready. Scoop onto a serving plate and place lamb ribs on top. I served this with a tomato, caper salad with parsley and mint but I loved this just with the polenta and ribs.

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