Cumin Lamb Noodles

This cumin lamb noodles recipe is a copycat of the noodle stir fry dish from Xi'an Famous Foods in New york. It's jam packed with savory, tangy flavor and spices and goes perfectly with some Chinese smashed cucumber salad! We've simplified the cooking process to make it easy enough to make this a weeknight dinner recipe, but if you're feeling up to the challenge, make homemade hand-pulled noodles for this stir fry using our biang biang noodles recipe is definitely worth the time and will elevate it to another level!

If you’ve made this recipe or any recipes from our blog, please tag us on Instagram using #twoplaidaprons! You can also tag us in your Instagram stories using @two_plaid_aprons. We would love to see your creations! It absolutely makes our day! 🥰

Jump to:

• Ingredient notes
• How to make cumin lamb noodles
• Recipe tips
• Storage
• Reheating
• FAQ
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Feedback

Ingredient notes

Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!

For the lamb:

• Thinly sliced lamb shoulder - Normally, you'd want to hand slice lamb shoulders, but to make this dish easier and quicker, we've opted for thinly sliced lamb shoulder. It's usually more accessible than whole lamb shoulder and you can find it at most Asian market in the freezer aisle where hotpot/shabu shabu meats are. They are usually sold shingled but sometimes they'll be individually rolled up.
• Shaoxing rice wine - Adding a little bit of rice wine will not only make the lamb more aromatic, it'll also help eliminate some unwanted gaminess from the lamb.
• Salt - For seasoning the lamb.
• Cornstarch - It's for coating the lamb which helps to protect the lamb from becoming dry.
• Oil - A little bit of oil in the marinade helps to make separating the lamb easier when cooking. Any neutral oil is fine.

For the rest of the dish:

• Wide noodles - Feel free to make your own homemade hand-pulled noodles using our Biang Biang Noodles recipe (just make 1 whole recipe and freeze the leftover slabs). This is the most ideal noodle for cumin lamb noodles. However, if you're short on time, the dry knife cut noodles we used or if fresh store-bought hand-pulled noodles or knife cut noodles are accessible, they are great choices as well!

• Spices - Cumin lamb noodles originally used more than 40 spices! We're simplifying it down to just 3 main spices—cumin, Sichuan peppercorn, and coriander seeds. We highly recommend using whole spices so that you can toast and grind them yourself. This will product a much more fragrant and tastier dish.

• Sauce - We've also simplify the the sauce needed for this stir fry noodle dish. You'll need soy sauce (we used low sodium), Chinese black vinegar, a little sugar to round out the sharpness, and a lot of chili oil. Chili oil is one of the biggest highlights of the this dish and cannot be made without! We really like using our Chinese chili oil (super fragrant!) and our garlic chili oil (for an extra kick of garlic) for this dish.

• Ginger and garlic - These two are the aromatics needed for this dish, just like many other Chinese and Asian dishes.
• Vegetables - The original cumin lamb noodles used cabbage and red onions in the stir fry, so that is what we opted for as well. Both veggies add a nice crunchy texture and refreshing sweetness to the dish.
• Chili pepper - This is totally optional if you want some extra kick. We recommend serrano, jalapeño, or bird's eye chili.

Optional herb mix:

• Cilantro - Although this herb mix is optional, we highly, highly recommend not skipping the cilantro. Cilantro pairs really well with lamb, especial with cumin lamb.
• Chinese celery - Compared to regular celery, Chinese celery is stronger in flavor, heartier, smaller, and most importantly, not as watery. This allow the cumin lamb to gain an extra layer of flavor without diluting. Of course if you prefer, you can do without the Chinese celery or use regular celery instead.
• Asian chive - These funky chives adds tons of flavor the dish, but you can do without or use green onion instead. If you are using Asian chives and have leftovers, you can use it for making traditional napa cabbage kimchi or pork and chive dumplings!

How to make cumin lamb noodles

Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and instructions!

Prepare the ingredients:

1. Marinate the lamb. Combine the lamb with Shaoxing cooking wine and salt. Mix well until most of the wine is absorbed.

Add the cornstarch and mix until no more dry cornstarch is visible. Finish by adding the oil and mix until well combined. Set aside to marinate as you prepare the other ingredients.

2. Prepare the spices. Toast the cumin, coriander, and Sichuan peppercorn in a pan over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Allow the spices to cool until room temperature and grind into fine powder using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Set aside until needed.

3. Make the sauce. Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce (chili oil, black vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar). Set aside until needed.

4. Prepare the herb mix. Gently toss together the cilantro, Asian chives, and Chinese celery. Set aside until needed.

Make the cumin lamb noodles:

1. Cook the noodles. Boil the noodles in a pot of boiling water according to recipe instruction (if making homemade hand-pulled noodles) or according to package instructions (if using store-bought dry or fresh noodles)

2. Cook the cabbage. About 30 seconds before the noodles are done cooking, add the chopped cabbage. Allow it to cook until the noodles are done. Then drain the noodles and cabbage together. Shake to remove excess water.

🌟 Pro tip: It is best to cook the noodles as close to when you will be sautéing the lamb as possible so that the noodles don't bloat, stick together, or become mushy. If you are up to the challenge of multitasking, you can even have the noodles boiling in the back while you sauté the lamb. However, DON'T add the sauce to the lamb until the noodles are ready!

3. Saute the aromatics. To a wok or large pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil. Once hot, add the garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant, about 10 seconds.

Then add the red onion and chili pepper and sauté briefly, about 5 to 10 seconds.

4. Cook the lamb. Immediately add the lamb and separate each piece as best as possible. Cook until the lamb is almost done.

5. Add the spices and rice wine. Sprinkle the ground spices over the lamb and sauté until the lamb is cooked and the spices fragrant. Drizzle the Shaoxing rice wine around the lamb and sauté until the alcohol is fragrant and cooked off.

6. Season with sauce. Give the prepared sauce a stir and add to the lamb.

📝 Note: Again, DO NOT add the sauce until the noodles are ready because the lamb can absorb too much sauce, leaving not enough sauce for the noodles.

7. Add the noodles and cabbage. Allow the sauce to heat up and immediately add the cooked noodles and cabbage. DON'T reduce the sauce! Just heat it up. Toss and stir until the noodles are evenly coated with sauce and everything is well combined.

8. Finish. Add the herb mix and toss briefly to combine. Portion the stir fry noodles onto serving dishes.

9. Serve. Top the cumin lamb noodles with more herb mix and extra chili oil if desired. Enjoy while hot!

Recipe tips

• Use wide noodles. Wide wheat noodles are the best choice for this dish. They provide really good texture and absorb the sauce well without becoming mushy. Feel free to use dry or fresh wide noodles.
• Have the noodles ready when adding the sauce. Before the sauce is added to the sautéed lamb, it is important that the noodles are strained and ready to be added. This is to prevent the lamb from absorbing too much of the sauce, leaving not enough for the noodles.
  • But also don't cook the noodles too early. Cooking the noodles too early may cause it to bloat, lose its texture, and stick together. Also, this dish benefits from not rinsing the noodles. Rinsing the noodles may add extra water to the sauce, diluting its flavor.
• Don't overcook the lamb. Because the lamb is very thin, it is important to not overcook it. The lamb won't be tough because it's so thin, but it'll become dry.

Storage

Although it is best to enjoy cumin lamb noodles freshly made, you can store leftover cumin lamb noodles into an airtight container once it is completely cooled. Store the leftover in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.

Reheating

You can reheat the leftover in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Microwave method: Place the leftover in a microwave safe container and cover loosely. Microwave until hot. In the middle of reheating, mix to help loosen the noodles.

Stovetop method: Place the leftover in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon or two of water and cover with a lid. Allow the cumin lamb noodles to steam until hot. Mixing in between to help loosen up the noodles.

FAQ

📖 Recipe