Moriaki's Hokkaido-style Lamb Jingisukan

About Jingisukan

Jingisukan is one of Hokkaido’s best-known lamb and mutton dishes. Thinly sliced lamb or mutton is cooked on a hot grill or pan together with vegetables such as onions, bean sprouts and garlic chives, and enjoyed with a savoury sauce.
There are many regional and household variations across Hokkaido. This recipe represents a simple home-style Jingisukan, where the natural flavour of the lamb is enjoyed together with vegetables and sauce.

Why Lamb Shoulder?

Jingisukan works particularly well with cuts that have a good balance of fat and a rich lamb flavour.

The lamb shoulder (SQ) used in this recipe contains a variety of muscles and sections, including the neck, shoulder, shoulder loin and breast.

Each of these has a different muscle structure and fat distribution. By adjusting the cutting direction and thickness to suit each section, you can create a variety of textures and eating experiences from a single shoulder. That versatility is one of the great strengths of lamb shoulder.

Ingredients

The basic ingredients are:

• Australian lamb shoulder
• Onion
• Bean sprouts
• Jingisukan sauce

However, there are no strict rules about which vegetables must be used.
Jingisukan is a casual home-style dish, and in Hokkaido it is very common to simply cook whatever vegetables are available in the fridge.

Garlic chives, cabbage, capsicum, mushrooms, pumpkin and other seasonal vegetables can all be used, depending on the household and the time of year.

Preparation

For cooking on a grill plate or frying pan, lamb shoulder is generally sliced around 3–5 mm thick.

More tender sections, such as the shoulder loin, can also be sliced around 1 cm thick and enjoyed as a thicker cut.

The key is to adjust both the cutting direction and thickness according to the characteristics of each muscle.

The amount of fat left on the meat is a matter of preference, but I recommend not trimming it all away. Leaving a moderate amount of fat adds flavour and richness when the lamb is cooked.

Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces that will cook relatively quickly.
The lamb can be marinated in a slightly diluted Jingisukan sauce before cooking, or cooked plain and dipped into the sauce afterwards. You can also enjoy a combination of both styles.

Marinating helps the flavour penetrate the thinly sliced meat and allows the sauce to coat it evenly.

Homemade Jingisukan Sauce

Approx. 300 ml
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 1/2 apple, grated (approx. 70 g)
• 1/4 onion, grated (approx. 50 g)
• 50 ml mirin
• 30 g sugar
• 20 g miso
• 40–50 ml water
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 5–10 g fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp rice vinegar

Mix all ingredients together well.
The sauce can also be adjusted to suit your taste. For example, you can add chilli or a little gochujang for extra heat and depth.

Cooking Method
Heat a grill plate or frying pan well and begin cooking the lamb.
As the lamb cooks, use the fat released from the meat to cook the vegetables around it.

Because the lamb is thinly sliced, it cooks very quickly. One of the most important points is not to overcook it.

Once cooked, simply dip the lamb and vegetables into the sauce and enjoy.
It is very simple — and that is exactly what home-style Jingisukan is all about.

Butcher’s Tips

• Lamb shoulder contains many different muscles, so always look at the direction of the muscle fibres before slicing.
• Do not remove all of the fat. Leaving some fat adds flavour and richness.
• Thinly sliced lamb cooks quickly, so avoid overcooking it.
• Jingisukan sauce does not have to follow one fixed recipe. Feel free to adjust it to your own taste with ingredients such as chilli or gochujang.