Steamed Lamb with Rice Flour

Steamed Lamb with Rice Flour

　　·Steamed Lamb with Rice Flour· A Xi’an-style halal dish. Steamed Lamb with Rice Flour is primarily made with fatty lamb and wheat flour, mixed with cooked beef or lamb, Sichuan peppercorn powder, five-spice powder, fine salt, and other seasonings before being steamed—hence the name. Its characteristics include being rich but not greasy, soft and smooth in texture, and deliciously fragrant. It is typically eaten with raw garlic or served sandwiched in “tuotuo” flatbread. The people of Qin have a long history of eating lamb, dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty around the 11th century BCE. There are various cooking methods, and steamed lamb with rice flour is one of them, particularly well-prepared by Muslim cooks. It can be eaten on its own or served in a flatbread (or “cake”). It is especially suitable for consumption during autumn and winter. Mixing meat with flour is a key step in making steamed lamb with rice flour. Bai Jianbo, an expert in Xi’an’s halal cuisine, says: when mixing sliced meat with flour, you must never add water. If the flour doesn’t stick to the meat slices, you can add a bit of clear oil instead. Adding water to the flour will create a tough dough, and steaming that tough dough results in hard lumps. If customers bite into hard lumps, they won’t come back to your shop. Adding some clear oil when mixing the flour ensures the steamed lamb turns out moist, tender, and flaky—avoiding the formation of hard dough lumps.