Asian Stewed Lamb Shanks

So it’s a week night and for some strange reason I’ve got some thawed Lamb Shanks from North Park Produce sitting in the frig. So what to do? Well it’s time to bust out the pressure cooker and throw something together. I decided to make some Asian inspired stewed Lamb Shanks.

Started at 5 pm, dinner on the table at 645pm. I think the pressure cooker done paid for itself.

Asian Style Stewed Lamb Shanks

3 – 1-1 1/2lb Lamb Shanks
8 Cups Chicken Stock
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
2 Onions skinned and sliced in half
8 Cloves of Garlic smashed
2 – 3" fingers of ginger smashed
5 Stalks of Green Onion – white portion only
1-2 Star Anise

1/3 Cup Cilantro Chopped
Salt & Black Pepper to Taste

1 – Brown lamb shanks in a pan
2 – While shanks are browning, mix together sugar and soy sauce
3 – Place browned lamb shanks in pressure cooker and add all ingredients.
4 – After checking the cooking chart from Lorna Sass’s Pressure Cooker Cookbook Pressure Perfect; I cooked on high pressure for 30 minutes with a 15 minute natural release, followed by a quick release.
5 – Remove shanks to a plate and strain and defat(if desired) "stock". Season the stock with salt and pepper to taste.
6 – You may want to thicken the stock(with a cornstarch slurry), or reduce it. Or do as we did, divide the stock in half. Reduce one half for a sauce. To the other half we added Bean Thread (and would have added tofu, but for some reason I didn’t have any handy), and with some shredded shank meat made Lamb Long Rice. If you love the flavor of lamb, it’s delici-yoso!!!

Notes: I followed the cooking chart in Pressure Perfect, and found that the lamb shanks were almost too soft. I’ll probably cut down the cooking time a bit next time around. To be perfectly honest, we enjoyed the stock even more then the lamb.