Vietnamese Lamb Shanks with Sweet Potatoes
Slow-braised fall-apart lamb shanks infused with star anise, fragrant lemongrass, sweet potato and sharp lime.
Ingredients
2 tbsp groundnut oil250ml
4 lamb shanks4 pack
2 brown onions, roughly chopped3 pack
2 tbsp chopped ginger100g
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced1 bulb
2 red chillies (1 chopped, 1 sliced)50g
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp brown sugar500g
3 whole star anise20g
2 lemongrass stalks, bashed2 pack
1L lamb stock10 pack
1 1/2 tbsp tomato purée200g
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks1kg
2 tbsp fish sauce200ml
juice of 2 limes2 pack
handful of fresh mint leaves25g
handful of fresh basil leaves25g
Method
- Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole, season the shanks, then brown them 2 at a time on all sides, adding the remaining oil for the second batch. Remove the lamb and add the onions. Fry them quite briskly, about 30 secs, add the ginger, garlic and chopped chilli, then turn the heat down and cook for 1 min. Add 1 tbsp sugar, stir, then add the star anise, lemongrass, stock, purée and seasoning. Bring to the boil.
- Cover and cook in the oven for 1½ hrs, then add the sweet potatoes and cook for 1 hr more. The lamb should be completely tender and almost falling off the bones. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice and 1 tsp sugar to just lift the flavour, then scatter with the mint, basil and the sliced chilli to serve.
Cost to cook
4
serves 4 ·
Mostly estimated prices. Full-pack shop cost · about £7.81 of it is what this recipe actually uses.
Find it in store
Search the ingredients at your stores:
Tesco Asda
£18.76 est. · serves 4