She made it to the final four of MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 – and was praised by the judges for her skills.
She entered the competition to show people her love of Asian cuisine, having fell in love with the flavours after working for Gordon Ramsay Group. In 2018, she booked a one-way ticket to Japan and toured around Asia for one year, to learn more about the food and culture.
“While travelling Northern China in 2018 I discovered these unreal lamb skewers. They were amazing, so juicy, and the meat just fell off the stick. Here’s my take on the dish.”
2 Portions
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40
Ingredients
For the lamb kebabs:
400 grams lamb shoulder diced sinew removed
½ red onion, sliced
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds (optional)
2 tbsp veg oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce (or soy sauce, or tamari for gluten-free)
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp cumin powder and extra for grilling
1/2 tsp chilli powder and extra for grilling
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder (optional but my favourite)
For the flatbread:
250g plain full fat Greek Yogurt
300g self-rising flour
For the Tahini Sauce:
60g Tahini
2 tbsp rice wine vin
2 tbsp soy
2 tbsp mirin (or 1 rice wine vinegar 1 honey)
2 tbsp water
For the reduced Chinese black vinegar:
100ml Chinese black vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
For the garnish:
Chilli oil & crispy shallots or chilli crisp sauce (recipe for chilli crisp is on my Instagram Reels)
Sliced lettuce
Pre-prep
Marinate lamb in in spices and oil for minimum of 2 hours but preferably overnight.
Method
Mix flour and yoghurt into a dough and knead for 5 mins. Leave covered for 20 mins.
Add Chinese black vinegar, soy and sugar to reduce to glaze on a high heat. If you can’t find Chinese black vinegar use balsamic vinegar glaze.
Mix tahini and rice wine vinegar until it goes all thick. That’s good don’t worry. Then add the soy and mirin – you may need to loosen it with water or you can leave this out at this stage.
Divide the flatbreads into 4 and roll out. Heat a large frying pan and add a tbsp of oil. Add the flatbread and cook on both sides. Repeat with the remaining flatbreads.
Heat a large frying pan and add lamb cook on high for 5-7 mins until just cooked remove from the heat.
Build the kebab by layering tahini sauce on the flatbread. Add lettuce, lamb & onions. Drizzle Chinese black vinegar and chilli oil and crispy shallots or chilli crisp.
Find more of Chef Philli’s recipes at Chef Philli – and don’t miss her Cook Along Lives which are held on her Instagram page.
