Not Exactly a Polite Dinner Party Dish

Lamb Ribs, Chinese Style, with Chilli and Spring Onion

Appears in

Published 2018

About

My local halal butcher simply did not understand. I asked for two breasts of lamb, and he simply sniggered and asked how many nipples did I want? I attempted to assure him that the term ‘breast’ of lamb was in common parlance, as it was with ‘breast’ of veal. After much gesturing and rooting around under his counter we found a pile of these distinctive pieces. I was told that they were ‘ribs’ of lamb.

Fair enough. It was, after all, my intention to cook them like spare ribs. I had been in an Italian wine bar in Hong Kong (that’s globalisation for you) and had enjoyed some rather tasty ‘ribs’ of lamb. It had given me an idea. Classically, breast of lamb has always been the poor relative of the lamb world (it is still very cheap: two breasts of lamb cost me £7.21 and would feed at least four) of the lamb world, with even neck – often called, rather unflatteringly, ‘scrag end’ – being more popular as the base for an Irish stew. The classic recipe for breast of lamb is épigrammes, where the meat is gently braised until the bones can be removed. It is subsequently pressed and cut into the shape of chops, breadcrumbed, then fried. This process is quite a lot of work for such a humble joint and such a poor deception. Most breast of lamb is minced, whether to make shepherd’s pie (originally made with cooked meat), moussaka or doner kebab.