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–+ servings

Jingisukan (Hokkaido Style Lamb BBQ)

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 3 servings

Ingredients 
 

Jingisukan Sauce

  • 75 g apple peeled, roughly chopped
  • 15 g carrot peeled, roughly chopped
  • 25 g onion roughly chopped
  • 15 g pineapple or kiwi fruit
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 5 g ginger root fresh, peeled
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp honey
  • ½ tsp chili powder cayenne pepper
  • ⅛ tsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp red wine or sake
  • ½ tsp light brown sugar
  • ½ tsp mirin
  • ½ tsp ground sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds

Jingisukan (Main ingredients suggestion)

  • 250 g lamb shoulder thinly sliced, about 2 mm
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 30 g carrot peeled, sliced into rounds
  • 50 g onion cut into wedges
  • 50 g eggplant sliced into rounds, skin on, or zucchini
  • 2 fresh shiitake mushroom stem removed, or any fresh mushroom
  • 50 g kabocha squash thinly sliced, skin on, or butternut squash
  • 100 g bean sprouts
  • 50 g green cabbage roughly chopped
  • 50 g bell pepper cut into strips

Instructions 

Jingisukan Sauce

  • Roughly cut 75 g apple, 15 g carrot, 25 g onion and 15 g pineapple into small chunks and place them in a food processor.
    cut apple, carrot, pineapple and onion on a silver plate
  • Add 1 tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp honey, ½ tsp chili powder, 1 clove garlic, 5 g ginger root, ½ tsp ground sesame seeds and ⅛ tsp rice vinegar to the food processor, then blend everything together until no more large chunks remain. 
    blitzed apple, pineapple, onion and carrots in a mini blender
  • Take a small saucepan and add 3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp water, 1 tbsp red wine, ½ tsp light brown sugar, ½ tsp mirin, 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds along with the contents of the food processor.
    Jingisukan sauce ingredients in a pan on the stove top
  • Place the pan on the stove and bring the sauce to a boil while stirring continuously to prevent burning.
    Jingisukan sauce in a pan on the stove top
  • Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 minutes. Then, remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool down. If you have time, place it in the fridge until serving. 
    Jingisukan sauce in a pan on the stove top

Jingisukan

  • Heat the pan/grill on a medium heat. Once hot, place a few slices of lamb in the center and sprinkle with a pinch of salt a pepper. If using a frying pan, move the lamb around the pan to season the surface.
    Placing thinly sliced lamb shoulder on a Mongolian BBQ griddle to make jingisukan
  • Flip the lamb and cook on the other side. Once cooked, remove from the pan. (You can eat it now or save it for later.)
    Thinly sliced lamb seasoned with salt and pepper on a Mongolian style BBQ grill to make Hokkaido style Jingisukan
  • Add more lamb, then the vegetables, starting with hardier vegetables like kabocha, carrot and onion first as they take longer to cook. As they shrink, make space and add the eggplant and mushrooms, then finally the cabbage, bell peppers and bean sprouts. Make sure all the vegetables are touching the fat and juices from the lamb to flavor them, flip occasionally for even cooking. Grill in batches if there isn't enough space.
    Hokkaido style Jingisukan with thinly sliced lamb and vegetables on a Mongolian style BBQ grill
  • When the meat and vegetables are cooked, dip the ingredients in the homemade sauce and enjoy with rice. Continue to cook in batches until all of your ingredients are used up. Enjoy!
    Dipping cooked lamb in homemade jingisukan sauce

Notes

I developed with a jingisukan nabe (dome-shaped grill pan), but a cast iron skillet or ridged grill pan works well. With flat pans, cook lamb and vegetables in stages to avoid steaming.
Preheat for at least 3 to 4 minutes and cook only 4 to 6 slices at a time. Overcrowding traps moisture and drops the surface temperature, producing grey, steamed meat instead of a golden sear.
The tare improves with time. Blend and simmer it up to 3 days ahead for rounder flavor.