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Seriously Simple: Chinese marinade kicks up flavor of grilled lamb

By Diane Rossen Worthington, Tribune Content Agency on

My dear friend, Laurie Burrows Grad, is a gifted writer and cook. She loves to do dinner parties with a Chinese theme, and one of her favorite main courses is this lamb dish. Marinated overnight in a luscious hoisin ginger blend, the lamb is then grilled to a rosy medium to medium rare. The flavor is simply spectacular and complements the lamb beautifully.

There are many recipes for butterflied leg of lamb (lamb that has been boned and left open so that the meat resembles a steak). It may look jagged and lopsided but after marinating and grilling, it is transformed into an incredible dish. One way to help cook the lamb uniformly is to pound it into a uniform thickness. It won't be perfect, but it will help in evenly cooking the lamb. Some pieces might be rarer while others are well done. That's a bonus when serving a group of people with diversified preferences.

When the weather begins to turn warm, I like to kick off the season with the fragrant aroma of this lamb as it is cooks outdoors. This can be the main event of an al fresco dinner party served along with an array of grilled eggplant and colorful peppers. A big bowl of steaming fried rice would go nicely to soak up the sauce. To drink: How about some chilled Chinese beer?

Tasty Tips

--The marinade can be used to flavor and tenderize rib or loin lamb chops.

--Leftover lamb is delicious served cold or at room temperature.

 

--The lamb can be marinated for up to two days, but it should be cooked just before serving for optimum flavor.

--Hoisin sauce, also called Peking sauce, is a thick, sweet sauce prepared from soybeans, flour, chili, red beans and red color and sold in Chinese groceries, gourmet shops and some supermarkets. Refrigerate the sauce after opening.

--Chinkiang rice vinegar, also known as Chenkung, Chekiang or Chen-jung, is well-aged black Chinese vinegar that is distinctively mellow in flavor. Well-aged balsamic vinegar will be an adequate substitute.

Grilled Leg of Lamb

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