Xinjiang Hand Pilaf
1.
Lamb chops are soaked with cornstarch powder and a little salt in water to remove blood. The lamb I bought today doesn’t feel very fresh, so I added this step and the fresh lamb can be omitted. I prefer to use lamb leg for pilaf, lamb chops have less lean meat and more fat. But it is a major feature of authentic Xinjiang hand pilaf. There is no way to think that vegetable oil is better than animal oil.
2.
Shred the carrots. Cut the carrots thicker than usual for stir-frying, but don't cut them into pieces. It's too fine and it becomes pureed carrots in the end.
3.
Shred the onion, and pay attention to save a piece (upper left corner) for another use.
4.
Wash the rice and soak it with clean water. The water absorption of each rice is different, and the water content of the rice is very important. The good state of Xinjiang's pilaf is that the rice is not sticky, and the grains are distinct. I like moderately soft and hard ones, and my husband likes harder ones. It is absolutely necessary for the grains to be distinct. If the grains of rice are tufted, the water will fail. So be sure to understand the water absorption of your own rice.
5.
Heat the pan with cold oil and fry the large onions until fragrant. Use a little more oil.
6.
Stir fry the lamb. In fact, it means a bit fried, because there is a lot of oil. It’s better to have a larger piece of lamb, the one in my picture is a bit too small. The lamb is deep-fried on both sides.
7.
Add onion and carrot slices and fry until carrots are soft and rotten. This process is a bit long, and the carrots are sautéed softly.
8.
Add water to the carrots, add salt, and simmer the lamb. How long does it take to stew? According to the tenderness of the lamb. If the lamb is old, boil it for 10 minutes, take it out and stew it in a pressure cooker. The tender mutton is stewed until the chopsticks can be inserted into the mutton and then fished out.
9.
Spread the rice evenly on the carrots, poke small holes with chopsticks, and simmer for 5 minutes. There is a key step. I said before that different rice absorbs different amounts of water. The amount of water reserved after the lamb is served is very important. According to my experience, if the rice is soaked in water, the amount of water reserved should be less, if the rice is not soaked or the soaking time is short, reserve more. It doesn’t matter if the water is a little bit less.
10.
Open the lid and turn the rice underneath to the top, then level it and poke some small holes with chopsticks, you can sprinkle some raisins, and place the lamb on top. If it is a large piece of lamb, it needs to be changed into smaller pieces, and simmer for 10 minutes. This time is not absolute. You should check it from time to time according to the amount of rice washed. As long as the rice is not fresh, you can turn off the heat and mix well. The ideal state is that the rice is cooked and the water is dry, and there is oil seeping from the bottom of the rice.
