Spicy Cumin Lamb Burgers
Updated June 18, 2024
- Total Time
- 40 minutes (or about 2 hours if making the bread)
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 minutes (or 1½ hours if making the bread)
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 sandwiches
- 2cups/250 grams all-purpose flour
- ÂĽteaspoon active dry yeast
- â…›teaspoon baking powder
- â…›teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1pound boneless lamb leg (ideally partially frozen)
- 2½teaspoons cornstarch
- 4teaspoons plus 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1(2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
- 2garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 2½tablespoons ground cumin
- 1Âľteaspoons salt
- Chile powder, to taste
- 1small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1longhorn pepper (or 1 jalapeño), thinly sliced diagonally
- 4homemade buns (or small burger buns or even English muffins, split and toasted)
For the Homemade Buns (optional)
For the Sandwiches
Preparation
- Step 1
If preparing the buns, to a large bowl add the flour, yeast, baking powder and sugar; whisk to combine. Drizzle in ½ cup/120 milliliters room-temperature water while mixing the flour with one hand until the texture is fluffy and sandy. Transfer to a flat surface and knead the mixture with both hands, pushing it away from you with the heel of each hand until it comes together into a smooth ball of dough, 3 to 5 minutes. (It will transform from raggedy to tacky to supple.) Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Step 2
While the dough rests, prepare the lamb: Carefully slice the lamb as thinly as possible, ideally about â…›-inch thick. Add the lamb to a medium bowl, and sprinkle with cornstarch and 4 teaspoons of the oil. Mix with your hands until the cornstarch has been evenly dispersed and dissolved; set aside.
- Step 3
After the dough has rested for 20 minutes, remove the plastic wrap and knead the dough a few more times. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for another 10 minutes.
- Step 4
While the dough rests a second time, cook your filling: In a large skillet or wok, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil over high until shimmering. Add the scallions, ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the lamb and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, until thoroughly browned in spots and cooked through. Turn the heat down to low and sprinkle with cumin, salt and chile powder; stir to combine. Stir in the onion and longhorn pepper; cover and set aside.
- Step 5
To shape the dough, take one piece and roll it between your palms into a ball. Place it on an unfloured work surface and press into a smooth, round mound. Use a small rolling pin to flatten to about 4-inches wide. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Step 6
Set a small skillet over medium and warm it up for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and add one dough round. Cover the skillet and cook for 1 minute on each side, until some brown spots appear. Flip and cook again for 1 to 2 minutes on each side until fully cooked (no parts should look gray or raw). It should be crisp on the outside and steaming on the inside. Repeat with remaining 3 dough rounds, letting the skillet heat up for a couple minutes between batches.
- Step 7
Slice toasted bread in half and fill with warm lamb mixture. Enjoy immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Anne from CT
Interesting recipe for the lamb. Tried it using 1 pound of ground lamb as finding a 1 lb boneless leg of lamb was not feasible. Served with Naan bread. Good blend and made a good burger. Probably very good with sliced lamb,and I may use the rub next time I cook a whole boneless leg.
Drake
Best not to call these a “burger” else it’s easy to misunderstand and use ground lamb. Needs to be strips of spiced and grilled lamb meat. Made correctly these are one of my favorite street food dishes in Chinese cuisine.
Anne from CT
Made this with the spice mixture using ground lamb. It was good - served with warm Naan. Would use the spice mixture as a rub for a butterfly leg of lamb.
JoAnne
Did you add the cornstarch to the ground lamb?
Dave T
The nearest Xi'an is often my first food stop on my many trips to NY. Now if only I could translate these flavors into the dumplings with that spicy, oily red broth, all my problems would be solved (mostly).
Golem
Costco has a 2# boneless leg of lamb that can be cut in half. Freeze half of the leg. If you have access to a real butcher as opposed to prepackaged supermarket meat, they should be able to give you 1 lb of boneless leg. Even my Safeway meat cutter will pretty much give me what I ask for.
Tony S
Per the suggestion below I obtained a 3 lb boneless leg from Costco - the smallest they had (and a beautiful piece of meat, btw). After trimming I used half for this and upsized slightly. Results were delicious and very much like the original dish. Vacuum froze other half to make again in a few months.
Ed Blau
I have used ground lamb to make Merguez for a very long time. The recipe for it has more spices than this recipe and I suspect tastes better.
gigi
Has anyone tried kneading the dough with the hook attachment of a stand mixer (instead of hand kneading)?
Ferguson
I had to knead the dough for twice as long, ten minutes, to get it to be smooth & supple.
Shaun T
For the spice mixture Chile powder I used gochugaru and cayenne. I also pre-marinated the lamb in some baking soda, soy sauce, msg, and shaoxing (small amounts of all for ~2hrs). Only other sub was jalapeno peppers. The meat came out wonderfully spiced, tender, and moist. Definitely a keeper. I'm not sure what, but I think the buns could benefit from a topping, something light, maybe an acid based slaw to add some crunch and freshness.
Jimmo
Be sure the wok/skillet is VERY hot, as the lamb will release a good bit of fat. I made mine in a wok and had a hard time getting the lamb to brown, so I finished it under a broiler for some texture. Next time I'll use a large skillet with more surface area. That said, the flavors were great (as always, lamb needs a generous amount of salt) and we loved it paired with a simple shirazi salad (not Asian of course, but still a nice complement).
dr. cox
Considering doing this in a cast iron tray in my pizza oven at very high heat… thoughts?
Veronika
To make this vegetarian, I'm thinking of substituting vegan chicken for the meat and making it a shawarma style Middle Eastern style dish.
Drake
Best not to call these a “burger” else it’s easy to misunderstand and use ground lamb. Needs to be strips of spiced and grilled lamb meat. Made correctly these are one of my favorite street food dishes in Chinese cuisine.
Dave T
The nearest Xi'an is often my first food stop on my many trips to NY. Now if only I could translate these flavors into the dumplings with that spicy, oily red broth, all my problems would be solved (mostly).
Anne from CT
Made this with the spice mixture using ground lamb. It was good - served with warm Naan. Would use the spice mixture as a rub for a butterfly leg of lamb.
JoAnne
Did you add the cornstarch to the ground lamb?
Daphdv
I think the spice mixture sounds divine and have the same cornstarch question.
Daphdv
I am using ground lamb and if here is a reason to use the cornstarch, I am not. Will update with the result.
Anne from CT
Interesting recipe for the lamb. Tried it using 1 pound of ground lamb as finding a 1 lb boneless leg of lamb was not feasible. Served with Naan bread. Good blend and made a good burger. Probably very good with sliced lamb,and I may use the rub next time I cook a whole boneless leg.
Golem
Costco has a 2# boneless leg of lamb that can be cut in half. Freeze half of the leg. If you have access to a real butcher as opposed to prepackaged supermarket meat, they should be able to give you 1 lb of boneless leg. Even my Safeway meat cutter will pretty much give me what I ask for.
Tony S
Per the suggestion below I obtained a 3 lb boneless leg from Costco - the smallest they had (and a beautiful piece of meat, btw). After trimming I used half for this and upsized slightly. Results were delicious and very much like the original dish. Vacuum froze other half to make again in a few months.
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