Lamb adobo
There was a time when my family went lamb-crazy. We grilled lamb chops almost every two weeks and when we got bored with the chops, I learned to cook a whole leg of lamb and even served it once like ham. There came a point when my husband suddenly couldn’t stand the peculiar odor of lamb. And it happened when I still had a few trays of lamb chops and shanks in the freezer. I figured the best way to remove, or at least hide, the odor would be to cook the lamb as stews. The already strong-smelling adobo (some say pungent though I disagree) would be a good choice. But I still decided to take extra measures to remove as much of the odor of lamb as I could.
Traditionally, it is vinegar that gives adobo its sour flavor. Ironically, it is also vinegar, especially the native vinegar, that gives adobo such a strong smell that make newbies to Filipino food flinch. On the other hand, kalamansi and lemon juice, just as sour, are both highly aromatic. Totally eliminating vinegar would take away the adobe-ness of the dish. But what if I combined vinegar with kalamansi or lemon juice?
Know what? It worked. 
Ingredients :
4-6 lamb chops (you can use shanks)
a whole head of garlic, peeled and crushed
a teaspoonful of crushed peppercorn
1 bay leaf
1/6 c. of vinegar
1/6 c. of kalamansi or lemon juice
1/3 to 1/2 c. of soy sauce
chopped wansuy (optional but highly recommended)
half a teaspoonful of grated lemon zest (optional but highly recommended as well)
Cooking procedure :
Place the lamb in a pan large enough so that the chops (or shanks) are on a single layer. Add the garlic, crushed peppercorns and bay leaf. Pour in the vinegar and kalamansi or lemon juice. Turn on the heat on high setting. Cook without disturbing the lamb until the liquid is boiling rapidly. Turn the lamb over and continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the lamb starts to render fat.
Cook the lamb in its fat (you may have to add a few tablespoonfuls of vegetable oil if you’re using shanks to help brown them since they do not contain as much fat as chops) until lightly browned, turning them over for even browning. Transfer the lamb to a plate lined with several pieces of absorbent kitchen paper. Pour off the fat from the pan but retain the spices.
Return the lamb to the pan. Pour in the soy sauce and add about a cup of water. Add the grated lemon zest. Simmer the lamb for an hour to an hour and a half or until tender. If the liquid dries up during cooking, add more water, about half a cup at a time.
When the lamb is done, arrange them on a platter. Pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle with chopped wansuy and serve with hot rice.
ShareYou might like these too...
Comments
12 Responses to “Lamb adobo”If you want your own pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
View the archive
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Feb | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Conversations
- Elaine on 'Tiramisu, party style': This is a genius take on tiramisu. Not only it looks presentable but...
- nina on 'Chocolate cheesecake': Looks yummy…I agree, Ms. Connie, the finished product is only as good...
- phynkee on 'Chocolate cheesecake': Hi Ms. Connie, your cheesecake recipes are so yummy, I made the coffee...
- Clydi on 'How to caramelize sugar': You are a god send. I have tried several recipes before and my sugar...
- Charlotte on 'Chicken, Edam cheese and pasta dish': Can I omit the white wine?
Stay updated!
my hubby cooks adobo with lemon also, and it tastes really good! i think mas malasa at mas dumidikit yung asim ng lemon, vs. the vinegar.
And definitely mas mabango, di ba?
Tita Cons, try to find lamb as in ung mga baby meat…kc ung inlaws ko po my farm cla ng mga sheep. And mum inlaw told me, specifically the middle east prefer the old sheep for meat coz its maligat I think, and that is the smelly one. And maybe that is what we gets to the distributor in Pinas. The real lamb (young ones) are the more tender and not smelly at all.
Malamang nga, we’re getting the rejects in Australia. The Philippine market is deluged with Australian lamb. They export here what they can’t sell there.
I always wanted to cook lamb kaya lang my wife didn’t like the smell when I tried it once. How do I get rid of the odor?
what is wansuy?
Rose, cilantro. If you use the search box and dig into the archives, there is an article about wansuy with a photo.
oh okay. thanks Connie, I didnt know the tagalog for cilantro, although I used it all the time with my salad.
Today I bought the wrong meat, I bought lamb by accident instead of pork. But I tried your recipe and it smells really good, I was worried it would smell really bad!
But I didn’t placed wansuy because I lack ingredients. But I did shower it with Kalamansi powder (no kalamnsi in australia and I found out my lemon juice expired) and bay leaves and pepper XD
Thank you very much! It works really great!
I was worried Lamb can’t be adobo’d
Jasmin, I’m even thinking of making lamb callos.
I wonder why i never thought of using lamb for adobo….good thing i saw this, have some lamb cuts at home. I’m really curious about the lemon. I can imagine it now….yummy!
That lamb callos is something to be anticipated!
i tried this a month ago( sorry po now ko lang napost comment busy kc ko hehe) and i would say ok na ok sya perfect 10..actually im not very fond of lamb, kc for me parang masyado strong ang amoy at lasa nya, but then i tried this ate connie at naku ang sarap ng amoy and yung lasa andun talaga sa laman ang ofcourse enjoy na enjoy na naman husband ko, eh pano favorite nya ang lamb..and tinary ko din tong recipe mo ibarbeque naku ate connie, naenjoy ko talaga maigi but what i did is minarinate ko sya for overnight and its so good po, the aroma and the taste is amazing ika nga ng asawa ko.
thank you very much po uli ate connie
since i found your blog( 5 months ago) hindi na ko namomroblema kung ano ihahain ko sa husband ko and kilala ka na rin nya, kc yung blog mo and lagi nya nakikita sa screen ng laptop ko hehe.