Braised Lamb with Prunes

Hello! It's Yoko, and lately I've been eating a lot of cinnamon toast.

Today I'm sharing a recipe for braised lamb with prunes!

Do you ever eat lamb?

I absolutely love it.

I started eating it on purpose after hearing that lamb contains L-carnitine, which is said to help burn fat and is good for dieting (lol).

I'm even more of a jingisukan (Japanese grilled lamb) person than a yakiniku (grilled beef) person, but I realized I almost never cook lamb at home...?

So I made this recipe!

It's actually a dish with a lot of memories for me. When I was studying abroad in Tours (a provincial city in France), my host mother made it for dinner.

I've based it on the taste I remember and made it easier to cook in Japan.

This recipe uses quite a few vegetables, but whatever you have in the fridge is fine!

I recommend carrots, since they add such pretty color.

Braised Lamb with Prunes

Ingredients (serves 3)

Lamb: 200 g
Prunes: 60 g
Onion: 1
Celery: 1 stalk
Carrot: 1
Zucchini: 1/2
Ginger and garlic: 1 small piece each
Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Wine: 100 ml
Boiling water: 100 ml
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Pepper: to taste

Instructions

1. Mince the ginger and garlic. Cut the other vegetables and the lamb into bite-sized pieces and marinate them in red wine for 20 minutes to overnight. Soak the prunes in the boiling water to soften them.

2. Take the lamb and vegetables out of the marinade (save the liquid, since you'll use it in step 3). Pat the lamb dry and season it with salt and pepper (not included in the amounts above).
Put the olive oil, ginger, and garlic in a pot and heat over medium heat. When it smells wonderful, add the lamb. Cook just until the surface is browned, then take it out.

3. Add the vegetables to the same pot and sauté. When the onion turns translucent, pour in the wine from step 1 and simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
When the vegetables are tender, return the lamb to the pot, add the prunes along with their soaking water, and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and you're done.

Tips

Don't overcook the lamb!

If you simmer it too long in step 2, it gets tough.

If you don't mind firmer meat, you can simmer it together with the vegetables.

Prunes and lamb are a great match

The rich sweetness of the prunes goes so well with the lamb!!

Serve with couscous and harissa for a Moroccan twist

Serve it with couscous (tiny pasta, smaller than a grain of rice) and harissa (a sauce made from peppers and spices) for a Moroccan-style version.

The harissa sold at KARDI is really good. It's on the mild side, though.

(Source: KARDI COFFEE FARM)

I've only used it a few times, but it's so good that it's disappearing fast...

Recommended wine

This recipe is also featured on Lekker Africa, a shop that sells South African wine.

I contribute wine comments and recipes there, and for this dish I recommend Robertson CR NO.1 Shiraz.

It's a spicy, full-bodied red made from 100% Syrah.

I've written a short explainer on South African wine below, so have a read if you're curious.

South African Wine: Great Value, and What to Look For