Real-deal Xinjiang cumin lamb recipe that yields crispy juicy lamb pieces coated with a bold cumin chili spice mix, stir fried with onion, garlic and cilantro. It’s a dish you can easily make at home, and it tastes just like what you’d get in China. {Gluten free adaptable}
Cumin lamb (孜然羊肉, Zi Ran Yang Rou), originally from Xinjiang cuisine, is such a popular dish that I thought was a Beijing dish growing up. It is just one of those dishes you see everywhere, no matter whether in a small diner or high school cafeteria.
When visiting China for the first time, especially the northern or western part of the country, you might be surprised at how popular lamb is. As a matter of fact, it is a staple for the Chinese Muslim community, which consists of about 20 million people. My family serves lamb quite a lot because my grandma used to make a mean lamb stew. Now, living in the US, where lamb dishes are not very common, I cook this dish at home to satisfy my nostalgia.
What is cumin lamb
Cumin lamb, when done properly, is very addictive. The lamb cubes are crispy on the surface and buttery tender inside. They are coated in a bold spice mix that includes cumin powder, chili pepper, and Sichuan peppercorns. Tossed in a fragrant oil with plenty of aromatics such as ginger, garlic, and onion, the lamb comes out like a flavor bomb that explodes in your mouth.
If your knowledge of Chinese food is based on Americanized-Chinese-style dishes from takeout restaurants in the US, you might be shocked to find out this dish does not include a stir fry sauce. That’s right! It is a different type of stir fry that uses dry spices instead of a sauce to season the food. Sometimes Chinese cookbooks call it a dry stir fry. It is actually the cooking method that’s most popular in the northern part of China, where I grew up.
This recipe uses a very easy approach to help you recreate the authentic experience in your own kitchen, without using a wok.
Ingredients
What cut of lamb to use
My favorite cut for cumin lamb is lamb leg. The meat has just the right amount of fat to keep the cooked pieces juicy and it’s very flavorful. If leg is not available, other cuts such as medallions, deboned loin chops, and stew meat are OK as well.
Mise en place
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
- Dried chili peppers and chopped ginger and garlic
- Cilantro
- Marinated lamb coated with cornstarch
- Spice mix
- Onion
How to cook cumin lamb
To cook cumin lamb:
- Sear the lamb in a heavy pan
- Once the lamb is browned and the inside is still pink, transfer it to a plate
- Saute the aromatics and chili pepper
- Add the onion for a quick stir
- Add back the cooked lamb with spice mix
- Stir to coat everything
Achieving the perfect cumin lamb stir fry
Here are some short but very important notes to help you cook the real-deal cumin lamb with perfectly cooked meat and a bold flavor.
1. Cut the meat to proper size
Although cutting the lamb into thin slices is the most popular way in Chinese restaurants, I stick to cubes when it comes to home cooking. Since the stoves in most home kitchens are not as powerful as those in restaurants, cutting the meat this way will help you avoid overcooking and yield tender meat.
2. Marinate the meat
This might be the most important step. Not only will the liquid ingredients eliminate any gamey flavor from the lamb, they also tenderize the meat over time. If you have extra time, I highly recommend marinating the meat for an hour or even longer, which will yield ultra-tender lamb.
3. What pan to use
My favorite piece of cookware is the heavy duty carbon steel 12.6-inch frying pan from DeBuyer. It’s extremely helpful if you use an electric stove at home. It heats up very hot, holds heat well, and is nonstick when properly seasoned. Instead of stirring the meat constantly, I sear each side until just golden while the inside is slightly pink, then set it aside. This way, the meat will be cooked perfectly at the end.
4. Use a generous amount of oil
It might look like a lot of oil, but remember, we’re cooking a dry stir fry and need plenty of oil to toast the spices and bind the ingredients together. Without enough oil, the spices will burn easily and stick to the skillet.
5. Add the spice mix at the right time
Don’t add the spices too early, which will burn them. And not too late, because we want to toast the spices with the hot oil so they are extra fragrant. We add them at the end of the cooking, and leave them in the pan for about 1 minute.
6. Use plenty of aromatics
Fresh garlic, ginger, and onion are the key components and make the lamb extra fragrant. Also, don’t be surprised by the huge bowl of dried chili peppers. Their purpose is to add aroma to the oil, but not spiciness. Make sure you use mild Chinese or Korean chili peppers, so the dish won’t be too spicy. If you prefer a less spicy dish, add 2 to 3 dried chili peppers instead of the quantity listed.
That’s it! Now you have the secret weapon to recreating the real-deal cumin lamb in your own kitchen. I hope you enjoy the dish as much as I do!
More Xinjiang-style recipes
- Da Pan Ji (Chicken Potato Stew with Noodles, 大盘鸡)
- Xinjiang Lamb Skewers (新疆烤串, chuar)
- Ding Ding Chao Mian (丁丁炒面, Fried Noodles in Lamb Tomato Sauce)
- Uyghur Lamb Pilaf (Polo, 羊肉抓饭)
- Baked Samosa, Two Ways (Uyghur Lamb Meat Pie, 烤包子)
Real-Deal Xinjiang Cumin Lamb (孜然羊肉)
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450g) lamb leg , cut to 3/2-inch (1.5-cm) cubes
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
Spice mix
- 2 tablespoons cumin powder
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan chili flakes (or Korean chili flakes)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Sichuan peppercorns (Optional)
Stir fry
- 4 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1/2 cup dried Chinese chili peppers
- 1 small white onion , large diced
- 1 thumb ginger , minced
- 5 cloves garlic , sliced
- 1 cup cilantro , chopped
- Toasted sesame seeds for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
- Combine lamb, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and salt in a big bowl. Mix well. Let marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature, or in the fridge up to overnight.
- Combine the ingredients for the spice mix in a small bowl.
- When you’re ready to cook, drain the extra liquid from the bowl of lamb. Add the cornstarch, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix, until all the lamb pieces are coated.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the lamb pieces and spread them out with a pair of tongs or chopsticks, so they don’t overlap. Let cook without touching until the bottom side turns golden, 1 minute or so. Flip the lamb and cook the other side until slightly golden, while the inside is still a bit pink, 30 to 40 seconds. Transfer the lamb to a big plate.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the dried Chinese chili peppers, ginger, and garlic. Stir a few times to release the fragrance. Add the onion. Stir and cook for about 1 minute, until the onion just starts to turn tender. Add back the lamb and sprinkle the spice mix all over. Stir immediately to coat the lamb with spice. Remove the pan from the stove and carefully try one piece of lamb. Sprinkle a bit more salt on it, if needed.
- Add the cilantro and give it a final stir. Transfer everything to a big plate immediately. Serve hot as a main dish.
Video
Nutrition
The recipe was published on Jan 2, 2018 and updated on Jun 22, 2022 with new video and images.
I liked it but doubled up on everything– onions, garlic, ginger and used hand-pulled noodles instead of rice. It’s a keeper. Many thanks.
Do you use lamb with skin here
Hi Imran, for this recipe you should use skinless lamb. Happy cooking!
This is delicious! I did make some changes: I used stew beef (already cut into chunks) instead of lamb since neither the local Asian market or my regular grocery store had lamb. I doubled the spices and used rice wine vinegar to substitute for shaoxing wine. I accidentally marinated the beef with the cornstarch added to the marinade but it doesn’t seem to have made a difference. I added cumin, red chili flakes, ginger, and onion powder to the rice cooker. I also added broccoli to make it more of a complete meal. It’s absolutely delicious! The whole dried peppers really lend a wonderful tingly spice as a supporting act to the meat itself, which is so juicy and tender – definitely marinate overnight! I will definitely be making this again!
Perfect! This recipe turned out better than the best Sichuan restaurants I frequent.
So good! I picked this recipe while trying to use up some lamb that had sat in the freezer a little too long but the flavor turned out great and the lamb was so tender! It’s great for us to make this at home since my children can’t handle spicy, la, heat. But they do love Sichuan peppercorn, so even omitting the Chinese peppers we still had tons of flavor. So happy to find this is easy to prepare at home, thank you!
Omg – where has this site been all my life! Every dish I’ve tried so far turns out restaurant quality. The cumin lamb was amazing – better than any I’ve had out. I may never eat out again. Thank you Maggie!
I used this as the basis of my lamb dish and added some bulgogi sauce and shitake mushrooms. Absolutely delicious.
I will try this lamb recipe tomorrow.
While I like all sorts of spicy food my wife does not.
Generally, what can I do to temper the heat of some of your dishes and still preserve the flavour?
Hi Peter, yeah you can definitely makes the dish less spicy. You can skip the Sichuan chili flakes from the spice mix (or use a very small amount if you wish). In the stir fry, you should still use a few dried chili peppers to infuse aroma to the oil. The dish won’t turn spicy if you use the mild dried chili peppers. I would definitely keep the Sichuan peppercorns or even use more. It has different sensation than spiciness and it adds a lot of aroma to the dish.
This recipe blew my mind! I made it exactly as written. I ensured not to crown the pan allowing the lamb to develop an excellent crusty brown. The flavors are addictive!! I. Could. Not. Stop. Eating. It.. Thank you so much for sharing🙂🙂
Awesome recipe, but when I first tasted the dish I really felt like something was missing. Like you had the flavor hit the roof of your mouth and around the sides but it was missing roundness to it – something that completes the dish. After some trial and error I figured it out- it needed five spice!!!!!!!!! With the five spice it’s perfect
Your recipe for Real-Deal Xinjiang Cumin Lamb is a winner, thank you so much! I had some fatty shoulder chops so I cut the meat off and made your dish last night. I was heavy on the chili flakes for the extra heat and it was a fantastic meal served with white rice. The dish looked as good as yours as well. Your dish matched some of the best that I have had in restaurants in Canada and the US. Well done.
Basic recipe is fine but the aromatic and spice levels are overwhelming even for sophisticated palates accustomed to Sichuan cooking. Cumin, red pepper flakes, red peppers, garlic — I will try this recipe again cutting them 50%. This is probably a country-style recipe rather than one which would be served at a fine restaurant in Beijing.
Nonetheless, thanks for posting this.
This looks amazing! I’d like to adapt it to use as Kao Baozi filling. I was thinking of making it as stated, and then take out the hard bits (chili peppers) before stuffing the buns. Do you think this would work or would the meat end up being over cooked? Or do you have any suggestions that might help?
I’ve seen buns using similar method (as a way of using leftovers in a different way). If you use the recipe directly I think the meat will definitely be overcooked.
I would under cook the lamb if using them in the buns. Also chill the cumin lamb in the fridge before steaming. That would help.
I made this and it was fabulous.
I shared your link on Reddit.
Hope you don’t mind. 🙂
No problem at all! Thanks for sharing and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the dish 🙂
This was sooo good! I made it with fresh cumin in my spice grinder, coriander+spinach instead of cilantro, and I wanted to lighten up the night so I made this with seitan instead of lamb. Really let that cumin and sichuan peppercorn shine!
Tasty! I was a bit hesitant about the amount of cumin but it was perfect. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi – I’m definitely going to try this but one question – how long is the lamb actually cooking? About 2 minutes during the sear and than just long enough to coat with the spices at the end? That sounds like a short time to cook the meat, so just want to make sure I didn’t misread anything. Thanks!
Hi David, the lamb will need a very short cooking time otherwise they might turn very tough. It’s not necessarily 2 mins depending on your stove, but you should leave the center a bit pink. They will be cooked more once you add them back to the pan, ideally, just cooked through when you’ve done cooking.
Wow – I tried it as written and turned out perfectly tender and delicious! Anyway, thanks for the recipe!
I will try this with pork. Anything I should watch out for? I am looking for a recipe like the Cumin Ribs at Di Shui Dong Shanghai and this looks close to its taste
I think you can use the recipe for pork without any issues 🙂 Happy cooking!
The Uighurs and Hui don’t consume alcohol. How would they make it?
I think they simply skip it.
These dishes are very properly in Beijing and we do use alcohol to adds another layer of flavor. But since the spice mix is quite strong I think it’s totally Ok to cook without the wine.
This was AMAZING!!!! The best taste – wanted to eat more but excited again to have it tonight.