Smoked Cumin Lamb Noodles

    Cumin rubbed lamb shoulder is smoked for 8 hours until tender, and then tossed with rice noodles, carrot, cabbage, and mint.

    Ingredients

    • 1/4 cup Cumin
    • 1/4 cup Coriander
    • 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
    • 2 tablespoons Salt
    • 1 tablespoon szechuan peppercorns
    • 1 teaspoon Clove
    • 1 teaspoon Fennel
    • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
    • 1 Lamb Shoulder
    • 20 ounces thick "poolee" rice noodles cooked
    • 5 Carrots julienned
    • 1/2 head Cabbage thin sliced
    • 1 bunch Mint chopped
    • 5 Limes
    • 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
    • 2 tablespoon Sesame Oil
    • 2 tablespoons Sriracha
    • 2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
    • 2 tablespoons Honey
    • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

    Instructions

    1. Mix the spice blend ingredients together. Rub it all over the lamb. Put it into the smoker at 275 and smoke about 8 hours until it reaches 195 internally and is almost falling apart.
    2. Mix the noodles with all the sauses and veggies. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more or less of the sauces if it's too dry.
    3. Shred up the lamb, removing any excess fat, and add it to the noodle mixture. Stir well.
    4. Serve immediately.

    Notes

    I have been loving slow cooked lamb dishes this year, so I decided to take it to the next level by throwing lamb shoulder into the smoker. The lamb came out super tender and shreddable, and had a nice sweet smoke flavor. I was inspired a little bit by Chinese cumin lamb noodles, and a little bit by pasta salad to make this great picnic dish that incorporated the shredded smoked lamb in with some rice noodles, carrot, cabbage, and mint.


    The rub for the lamb was cumin, coriander szechwan peppercorns, salt, cinnamon, clove, and brown sugar.

    Shred some carrot and cabbage to mix in with the noodles.

    When the lamb comes out of the smoker you can easily shred it up. The fat and spice blend forms a luscious sauce lightly coating the meat.

    I mixed the noodles with some lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha, and honey, along with the carrots, cabbage, and fresh mint. Then just mixed the lamb in at the table.

    It was a great picnic or potluck style dish that I could mostly make ahead. It was intended to be served at room temperature too so it didn’t need any extra last minute heating.

    The veggies were crunchy and the meat was tender. The flavors were super fresh from the mint and lime, and deep from the smoked meat. And the pasta was the perfect vehicle for everything!

    I made a ton because there were a lot of people over.

    But it’s ok cause the leftovers are awesome too.

    All my friends digging in.