The delicate flavours of the lamb are bolstered by chargrilling and a generous smack of umami from the accompanying anticucho miso sauce.

NEED TO KNOW

Preparation Time: 3 1/2 hours
Serves: 2
Difficulty: Intermediate

INGREDIENTS

For the lamb:

• 200g lamb rump

For the lamb cure:

• 100g fine salt
• 50g brown sugar
• 20g fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 20g fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced

For the miso sauce:

• 500g miso paste
• 250g caster sugar
• 160g mirin
• 160g sake

For the purple potato puree:

• 200g purple potatoes
• 50g unsalted butter
• salt to taste

For the sweet potato crisps:

• 1 sweet potato

For the anticucho miso sauce:

• 100g Aji panca paste
• 2 garlic cloves
• 50g miso sauce
• 15g soy sauce
• 10g rice vinegar
• 5g oregano

METHOD

First, season the lamb. Mix all of the ingredients for the lamb cure together in a bowl until well combined. Rub generously all over the lamb rump, cover and leave in the refrigerator for 2.5 hours. When the time is up, wash the cure off the lamb and set aside.

Next, make the miso sauce. Put the sake and mirin in separate saucepans and bring to the boil. Once boiling, ignite the liquid and burn all of the alcohol out.

Once the alcohol has evaporated, combine the sake, mirin and sugar in a bowl. Whisk to dissolve, then add the miso paste and mix until well combined.

Put a pot of water on the stove; choose one that is small enough that the bowl with your mixed ingredients can sit inside without dropping down into the water. Bring the water to the boil with your bowl sitting on top and cook the mixture Bain Marie style for around 1 hour when the sauce will start to thicken. Set aside to cool.

Next, turn to the potatoes. To make the purple potato puree, boil or steam the potatoes with the skin on until soft. Remove the skin and press the potatoes through a potato ricer. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the potato and mix until well combined. If you find the mix is too stiff and the fat is splitting from the potato, add a little water to bring it back together. Season to taste.

To prepare the sweet potato crisps, peel the sweet potato and discard the peel. Using the peeler, continue “peeling” the sweet potato flesh until you have no more left. Preheat a saucepan with some oil to 140 degrees and add your sweet potato. Make sure to keep moving it around in the oil so it doesn’t stick together. When the crisps stop bubbling, remove them and place them on paper towels. They should crisp up when they cool down.

Blend all of the ingredients for the anticucho miso sauce together until very smooth and set aside.

To cook the lamb, cut the lamb into 3 equal pieces and grill until medium. Brush the lamb a few times with the anticucho miso sauce whilst you grill it to give it a nice caramelised effect.

To plate, squeeze 3 little circles of your anticucho miso sauce onto a plate. Place each of your lamb pieces on top of the sauce circles.

Spoon some purple potato puree on top of each piece of lamb and finish with a sprinkle of chives and sweet potato crisps on top of the potato.