Sino-Cymric? Hell, yeah, Japanese Welsh Fusion! It's so out there it can't possibly have been done ...
The Welsh: Lamb. Shoulder of, boned and rolled around a fascine of sage, thyme and rosemary.
The Japanese: Wasabi, Yuzu, Rice Vinegar & Chillies.
On purpose? Well, no. We'd been out for the day, got back about six without enough time to cook this joint, but I have a cunning plan ...
To do this, get hold of the following:
- Lamb joint - boned, rolled and stuffed with herbs
- Garlic & Lemon
- Yuzu, Rice Vinegar & Chillies
- Potato, Butter & Wasabi
- Vegetables - Sprouts, Carrots & Peas
Place your joint on an oven-proof plate, garlic bulbs alongside, lemon wedges, too. Salt over.
Cover with kitchen foil and commit to the oven at 180C (350F?) for a good hour and a half.
The lamb will now be technically cooked, but pretty tough. It really wants another couple of hours at a lower temperature to soften up, but we didn't have the time ...
So, out it comes, allow to just cool off and now get in there with your hands, peeling off all the sinews and membrane.
Shred with the fibres and you'll have a pile of meat.
Lamb like this is still very fatty and can be overfacing unless paired with sharp and spiky flavours. We'll be doing a Wasabi Mash, but let's cut through the meat itself.
In a skillet, load in the meat and pour over some rice wine vinegar and some yuzu juice. Chillies, too. Gently heat through while you prepare your vegetables and top up with a little water here and there.
The meat will soften and take on all these flavours.
Wasabi Mash
Boil some white potatoes.
When soft, mash with generous amounts of butter and mash in some wasabi to taste.
Vegetables
Steam 'em alongside the mash.
Serve
Put the lot together onto a plate, mash in the middle, mound the meat up on top and vegetables around the side.
Pulling the meat down through the mash and catching some of the sweet vegetables, gorgeous! Loved it!
Do again? Probably not, largely because I never do the same thing twice, but elements will make it into future dishes.
