Lamb: Famous specialty of Ninh Thuan, everyone should try it once

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Ninh Thuan cuisine is extremely rich with many famous dishes, but the specialty that tourists want to enjoy the most is lamb.

Coming to the land of cactus flowers, visitors can easily see herds of sheep roaming on the wild grasslands, running along the coastal sand dunes or near National Highway 1A, creating a very dear image, which is typical of the region. land of Ninh Thuan.

Sheep are raised naturally on grasslands or sand dunes (Photo: Vu Minh Tuan)

Ninh Thuan province has 3 types of terrain: mountains, semi-mountainous hills and coastal plains, surrounded by three mountains (to the north, Khanh Hoa province, to the south to Binh Thuan province, to the west to border Lam Dong province). ) and the East has a coastline of 105 km. Between the province and the coast is an arid plain, known as the “Far West of Vietnam”.

Ninh Thuan cuisine is extremely rich with many famous delicacies such as apricot fish salad, grilled sand dunes, chicken rice, jellyfish vermicelli, pancakes, banh can, grilled quail eggs… Song, a specialty dish that many tourists visit The most desired customer here is lamb.

1. Ninh Thuan lamb meat

Sheep are raised naturally on grasslands or sand hills, mainly eating grass and low trees, so lamb meat has high nutritional value, rich in protein, rich in iron, helps reduce cholesterol and prevent osteoporosis as well as diseases of anemia, cardiovascular, improve memory and concentration of the brain. In particular, the Mongols living on the vast steppe believe that lamb has the effect of warming and protecting the stomach, aiding digestion.

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Lamb helps reduce cholesterol and prevent osteoporosis (Image: mekongdeltaexplorer)

To have delicious dishes made from lamb, the most important step is the selection of meat. Prioritize to choose a piece of lamb that is pink, has high elasticity, feels supple and smooth to the touch. Lamb fat is the part that creates the pungent smell, so don’t choose a piece of meat with a lot of fat. Should not choose meat that has turned purple, fat is yellow or ivory white because it will affect the absorption of cholesterol.

Lamb has a rather specific smell due to fat and myoglobin, while preliminary processing without knowing how to deodorize will reduce the taste of the dish. To remove the smell of lamb, you can refer to some of the following tips.

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Should choose a piece of pink lamb, feel the softness and smoothness by touching (Photo: netamthuc)

– Use salt: Wash lamb, sprinkle salt on both sides of the meat, leave for about 60 minutes, then rinse with clean water.

– Use ginger: Rinse the lamb with water briefly to remove the blood and water on the meat. Bake ginger until fragrant, scrape off the outer skin and puree, apply evenly to the meat, leave for about 5-10 minutes and then rinse with water.

– Use five flavors: After buying, quickly wash the lamb with water and then marinate the meat with five flavors for 5 minutes.

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To have a delicious lamb dish, the most important step is to choose the meat (Photo: homefarm)

– Use green tea water: Prepare a pot of strong tea, when the tea is cool, put the washed lamb in and soak for about 10 minutes. Then remove the tea residue and wash the lamb with clean water.

– Deodorize lamb through marinating steps: In addition to some common seasonings, you can use herbs to prevent meat from causing odors and enhance flavor, or marinate lamb with fruit juices that contain natural ingredients. sour taste such as orange, lemon, apple… Marinating time is from 12 hours so that the meat can absorb the spices evenly and not be difficult.

2. Delicious lamb dishes

Stir-fried lamb with lemongrass and chili

Although the processing is simple, but fried lamb with lemongrass and chili is loved by many people because of the soft sweetness of the meat and the aroma of lemongrass mixed with the characteristic taste of bell peppers.

The ingredients of the stir-fry are lamb thighs, bell peppers, carrots, fresh bamboo shoots, garlic, and chopped red onions. Basic seasonings such as sugar, fish sauce, ground pepper, oyster sauce, cooking oil.

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Stir-fried lamb with lemongrass and chili is very popular (Photo: O Vuong Sheep)

Lamb washed, deodorized with ginger, white wine or vinegar, rinsed, drained. Thinly slice lamb, marinate lemongrass, ground pepper, sugar, fish sauce, oyster sauce for about 20 minutes for the meat to absorb the spices. Wash the vegetables, blanch in boiling water for about 5 minutes, then take them out.

Sauté onion, lemongrass, minced garlic, add lamb to the island quickly, then add bell peppers, bamboo shoots and carrots to the island, mix well, season to taste, then turn off the stove. Stir-fried lamb with lemongrass and chili should be stir-fried about 5-10 minutes before the meal so that the dish is always hot.

Herb grilled lamb chops

Choose whole tenderloin chops, which can be cut into small pieces or left in long pieces.

Use a large bowl, then arrange the lamb chops evenly in the bowl. Add olive oil, crushed granulated salt, ground pepper, fresh rosemary (finely chopped), thyme leaves (thyme), minced garlic, balsamic vinegar and red wine, one by one. deep inside the ribs. Cover, put the meat in the refrigerator, marinate for about 30 minutes and then bake on charcoal fire (or oven).

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Should choose young ribs to make herb grilled lamb chops (Photo: netamthuc)

The herb-grilled lamb chops have a characteristic aroma of rosemary and thyme leaves, the rich meat flavor is mixed with the fatty taste of olive oil and the fat secreted from the lamb. Note, do not overcook the ribs, it will make the lamb tough and lose its sweetness.

Herbal grilled lamb chops should be eaten while still hot to feel the essence and aroma of the meat. It can be served with salad dressing, french fries, mustard or lemon pepper sauce, mayonnaise, tzatziki sauce or any other dipping sauce you like.

Lamb cooked with grapes

Sheep and grapes are famous specialties of Ninh Thuan, the people here have skillfully combined these two ingredients to create a unique and extremely attractive dish. The secret to making a delicious lamb dish is to choose the shoulder of the lamb, which has both meat and fat so that when stewed, the lamb is soft and the water has a fatty taste.

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Sheep and grapes are famous specialties of Ninh Thuan (Photo: Cuu O Vuong)

Grapes peeled, removed seeds, can add carrots, vegetables to make the broth sweeter. Lamb cut into pieces, marinated for about 20 minutes, stir-fried with onions and garlic until fragrant. When the meat is fully cooked, simmer for 1 hour. Then add the boiled vegetables to the pot. Finally, stir-fry leaves and a sufficient amount of grapes, cook for a few more minutes, then turn down. Do not overcook it, it will cause the grapes to be deformed, unsightly, and the grape juice will make the dish more sour, overpowering the lamb.

Lamb cooked with grapes is both soft and fatty, with a distinctive aroma mixed with sweet and sour grape juice to make the dish more delicious. Lamb cooked with grapes is often served with bread or vermicelli.

3. Note when eating lamb

Lamb is a strange dish, containing many nutrients beneficial to health, especially the immune system, nervous system … Lamb tonic blood, helps to strengthen yang, strong tendons, good for the lungs, reduce the condition Asthma or many other respiratory diseases are common in winter. However:

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Lamb meat contains many healthy nutrients (Photo: thitbonhap)

– Do not eat durian after eating lamb to avoid raising blood cholesterol and causing dizziness. It is best to eat lamb with mangosteen or drink light brine.

– Do not combine lamb with vinegar and watermelon because they inhibit the activity of the spleen and stomach. During processing, the lamb should only be cooked over medium heat.

– Do not drink tea before and after eating lamb because lamb is rich in protein, and tea contains tannic acid, which together will produce tannic acid protein, reducing intestinal motility, easily causing constipation.

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Lamb meat has a rather characteristic smell due to the fat and myoglobin produced (Image: netamthuc)

– Lamb is warm, so avoid using hot spices such as chili, pepper, cloves… during processing because it easily increases body temperature.

People with sore throat, pink eye or diarrhea should avoid eating lamb as it can aggravate unpleasant symptoms.

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