I was feeling like having some osso bucco, which is braised shanks of veal. But here in Kuching, certain cuts of beef like veal are more difficult to get. So I decided to prepare osso bucco with lamb instead.
It didn’t hurt that I already had some lamb shanks sitting in my freezer that I thought would be perfect to cook this dish with. Even though I’ve said before that I have a go-to lamb shanks recipe, I decided I had to try a new recipe to make this osso bucco.
You’ll swoon over these lamb shanks in buttery braised garlic sauce.
For some reason, it’s really hard to find good beef here in Kuching. Last year when Nate was hankering for some steak for his birthday, I went to the store and got some ribeyes to grill up for him.
They were not good.
They were tough and did not have enough marbling. I had bought a big hunk of ribeye frozen and when we thawed them out, we had a feeling they weren’t going to be good. So, we’ve pretty much given up on getting good steaks here. The rest of that hunk ended up being sliced up and used for Niku-jaga which was a better application of that quality beef.
Anyway, why am I going on about beef when the title of this post says lamb shanks? Well, it’s because I want to let you know that even though we can’t get good beef here, we can certainly find good lamb!
The same place I got my beef, I also found some vacuum-packed lamb shanks that were super meaty. I got myself two shanks the first time; made this recipe and regretted not buying more. So the second time around, I made sure to get four shanks.
Continue reading Braised Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Vermouth
I haven’t made Western style beef stew in a while. The last two beef stews I made was the Chinese style beef stew that I blogged about a while back (with tendon and daikon). But recently, I got myself some beef chuck and I had in mind to make a different beef stew.
Continue reading Beef Stew with Tomatoes, Orange Zest and Olives
Japanese pumpkin, braised in sake, sugar and soy sauce. An easy side dish, packed with lots of color and flavor.
I was looking for some side dishes to serve with my Niku-jaga the other day when came across this dish. I remember having eaten it once, a while back with some friends but I had forgotten all about it until I saw this recipe online. I immediately wanted to make it because I love kabocha and pumpkins in general! Lucky thing, kabocha squash (or at least something very similar in shape and colour) are found in abundance at the local Kuching markets.
This dish is so easy to make, plus it really packs a lot of flavor! If you cannot handle too much sugar, try substituting some of the sugar with agave or a sugar substitute like Splenda. This dish would make a nice option for a holiday side dish if you’re looking for something different. And, it doesn’t take any room in your oven! What more could you ask for?
Continue reading Kabocha No Nimono Recipe (Braised Kabocha Pumpkin)