Sambal Shiok by Mandy Yin TRY IT YOURSELF Lamb in tamarind & green chilli

Editor Keith Kendrick tries Mandy’s fiery and addictive stir-fried lamb from Malaysia

Shiok’ in Malay slang means something or an experience that is ‘shockingly good’. That’s the perfect way to describe the lamb ribs I cooked from Mandy Yin’s new book. She describes them as ‘sticky, fiery hot and addictive’. I’m going with ‘shiok’. I’ve rarely had lamb ribs before, mainly because they aren’t the easiest thing to get hold of. When I went to my local butcher, he looked perplexed. ‘Nobody has ever asked for those,’ he said. But he disappeared and came back with two sheets of them. Easily enough for four people – and just £9 in total. Shiok!

Mandy’s inspiration for the dish is sambal kambing goreng – fried lamb chops with green chillies – which she had at a Malay restaurant on London’s Edgware Road. ‘It is one of those dishes that lingers in my memory, it was that good,’ she says. They’re marinated and slow-cooked until the fat renders, then tossed in the same fat along with a garlic-chilli paste.

Mandy’s book is full of such surprises, as she says, ‘My aim is to highlight a cross-section of Malaysian cooking: Malay, Indian, Chinese, Peranakan and tribal Iban.’ It’s the kind of food she creates at her London restaurant, Sambal Shiok. Her book showcases a selection of Malaysian-inspired recipes from snacks and salads, to noodle soups, curries and sweets.

So what about the ‘sambal’ part of the title? Is it a pickle, a condiment or a dipping sauce? Mandy says, ‘It is all of them. It’s that special little je ne sais quoi that Malaysian cooks offer on the side of every meal, to add chilli heat. Variations are endless.’

SERVES 2-3 PREP 10 mins plus overnight marinating and resting COOK 1 hr 40 mins EASY

1kg lamb breast, cut into

individual ribs

10 green chillies, roughly chopped 4 garlic cloves

1 tsp white sugar cooked rice, to serve (optional)

For the marinade

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground white pepper 11/2 tbsp dark brown sugar 2 tbsp tamarind paste

1 Mix all the marinade ingredients together with 21/2 tsp salt in a large bowl, then combine with the meat. Cover and chill overnight.

2 Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/ gas 3. Put the lamb ribs on a wire rack set over a roasting tin and roast for 90 mins. Check every 15 mins, moving pieces that are more coloured away from the heat, and turning them halfway. The meat should be tender enough to pull away from the bone but not fall off. 3 While the lamb is cooking, put the green chillies and garlic in a food processor and pulse to finely chop. 4 Remove the lamb from the oven, immediately wrap in foil to keep it moist and let it rest for 20 mins.

5 Meanwhile, use a fine metal strainer to pour off the fat from the roasting tin into a bowl, discarding any burnt bits of marinade.

6 Pour the fat into a large frying pan over a medium heat and stir-fry the chilli-garlic mix for 2 mins. Turn off the heat and mix in the sugar. Add the ribs to the pan and stir to coat. Divide the ribs between plates and pour over the chilli mixture. Serve with rice, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW vit c • gluten free

PER SERVING 764 kcals • fat 57g • saturates 24g •

carbs 19g • sugars 17g • fibre 3g • protein 42g • salt 4.6g