Here’s a simple recipe for well-spiced and flavourful lamb wraps, inspired by the ever-popular biang biang noodles.

Time: 2/5
Store-bought flatbread saves a lot of time, and thin-cut meat cooks quickly 

Effort: 3/5
Always takes a bit more effort when marinades are involved, but it’s worth the tradeoff

In the Mood for Lamb

I fell in love with döner kebabs when I went backpacking across Europe with my college friends. It was a budget friendly way to fill our broke student stomachs, but it was also a lot of savoury, super juicy meat. It’s hard not to love something that is seasoned with both spices and nostalgia.

Unfortunately, shops selling döner aren’t really a thing where I live, and that memory laid dormant in my mind. But then I had some leftover flatbread from making Chicken Fajitas, and the idea hit me.

The lamb was originally planned to be for an ambitious attempt at making some biang biang noodles. But I thought they’d also make a great filling for a wrap, and I had all these tortillas from the fajitas so I might give it a shot.

I knew I was never going to achieve the same texture or caramelisation of döner without a dedicated spit-roasting machine, but the cumin-forward flavour and the richness of lamb got me close enough to those meals I had in Europe during my wild reckless youth.

Wraps benefit a lot from a sauce or two, and I simply reused the yogurt Ranch sauce leftover from the chicken fajitas. But whether it’s sauced or not this quick and simple recipe will also make a delicious topping for salads and rice bowls.

Also served with a bok choy soup, because you should always eat your veggies!

Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 4

Dramatis Personae

Served 2.

• 300g thinly sliced lamb shoulder
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 shallots
• Chili powder to taste

Don’t overdo the Shaoxing wine. It is there to play a supporting role, not be the main character. As for the chili powder, I have some Kashmirilal from making Chicken Tikka Masala but feel free to use whatever you have.

Executive summary

1. The night before, marinade the lamb. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
2. Warm up the flatbread gently in a low oven.
3. In a frying pan, stir fry the lamb until cooked.
4. Assemble and serve.

Play by Play

Last things first. Marinades are great for driving flavour into meat, especially when it’s sliced thin like this.

Mix mix, refrigerate overnight. This will be great tomorrow.

The next day. I got the tortillas warming up in the oven, and got the bok choy soup to the point where I can walk away from it.

Time for action. Turn the heat as high as your pan will take (mine’s a non-stick, so not really that high), and stir fry briefly.

What a nice coincidence, the bok choy soup is done at the same time!

It smells amazing, and I can’t wait to taste it.

Tastes as good as it smells, and a great effort-to-reward ratio. A very nice way to shake things up from my usual parade of chicken and rice recipes.

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