By MIKA OMURA/ Staff Writer
December 14, 2023 at 07:30 JST
Pan-fried lamb chop with a special sauce (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)
Editor’s note: In the Taste of Life series, cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
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Qiqihar city, where chef Liang Baozhang grew up, is the second largest city in Heilongjiang province in China, which also borders the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Northeastern China is home to the Mongol and Manchu people and thus offers a mix of multiethnic dietary cultures. In this region, the foremost meat is said to be from sheep.
“Sheep meat with bones, or the shoulder or belly meat are simply simmered with salt,” says Liang, 60. “They taste great with a garlic chive sauce, and you dish them out by hand. The meat near the bone is particularly good. It is not heavy, and you can eat quite a lot.”
Yet when he was growing up in the 1970s, China had yet to become materially affluent.
Qiqihar becomes cold in October, with winter lingering until March and even April. Liang recalls not seeing fresh green vegetables during the long, harsh winters.
“Sheep meat was a luxury,” he says.
People could only enjoy it a few times a year on special occasions such as celebrations.
From the 1980s, however, the economy picked up and meat became more popular. Liang, who began working at 19, became hooked on spit-roasted sheep meat he ate at restaurants he frequented after work.
Diced meat is skewered and flavored with spices and other seasoning while being grilled.
“I loved it because I got to enjoy them with alcohol. I could eat as many as 20 skewers, something I couldn’t possibly do now,” says Liang.
Skewered sheep meat seasoned with original spices including cumin has become a signature dish of Ajibo, one of his restaurants.
This week, we introduce a recipe where a special sauce is made and applied on cooked lamb chops.
“Although the meat is pan-fried in this recipe for the sake of home cooking, it tastes even better if it’s charcoal-grilled,” says the chef.
The sauce adds a richness and zest to the tender lamb, and it also pairs well with meat other than lamb. It can also be enjoyed when having a barbecue.
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Liang Baozhang, born in 1963 in Qiqihar city in China's Heilongjiang province, is the owner of Chinese restaurants. He came to Japan in 1995 and now runs 11 establishments including Ajibo in Tokyo’s Kanda district, serving local dishes from various regions in China.
BASIC COOKING METHOD
Main Ingredients (Serves 2)
2 lamb chops, 2 grams each of ginger, garlic and green onion (naganegi type), 30 grams doubanjiang, 5 grams each of caster sugar and soy sauce, 10 ml oyster sauce, 10 grams tianmian sauce, 5 grams red miso (akamiso), 5 ml beer, 5 ml green onion-flavored oil (negi abura), some white sesame seeds
1. To make special sauce, pour bit of oil (not listed above) in frying pan, add finely chopped ginger, garlic and green onion and cook until aromatic.
2. Add doubanjiang, caster sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, tianmian sauce, red miso and beer and stir-fry slowly for 5 minutes on lower medium heat. Add green onion-flavored oil last. Move sauce to container and wash pan.
3. Place pan on heat without oil, place lamb chops and cook on medium heat.
4. When both sides are cooked, apply special sauce from (2) on both sides. Cook both sides briefly, serve on plate and sprinkle with white sesame seeds.
About 130 kcal and 0.6 gram salt per portion
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)
The list of ingredients for the sauce shows the minimum amounts that are easy to make. The sauce will keep for about a month in the fridge.
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