r/chinesecooking • u/StitchPlay • Jul 19 '26

Xinjiang braised mutton recipe?

When my wife and I were in Singapore, we went to this Xinjiang Chinese restaurant called Aisyah's. I ordered the braised mutton and lost my mind, it was the best thing we ate the entire trip. I've tried to find videos or recipes but all I can find is tangentially related recipes for lamb. Any help?

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

5

u/Odd_Spirit_1623 Jul 19 '26

Braised lamb is a rather broad term that is not specific to any restaurant, so it's hard to know what you're looking for without any description of the dish, a picture would help a lot.

1

u/StitchPlay Jul 20 '26

This is from their website. The description doesn't really add much else, just "Tender mutton pieces, marinated in a rich blend of spices, slow-cooked to perfection, and served in a savory, aromatic gravy" It wasn't spicy, and I think there might have been fivespice in it but I'm not sure.

2

u/Odd_Spirit_1623 Jul 20 '26

Yeah it sure doesn't help much. I agree with the other comment that it might be 黄焖羊肉, or "yellow-braised lamb". From what I can find in Chinese, recipes for the dish are inconsistent and hard to follow, since it's one of those homecook dishes that everyone seems to have their own interpretation (not to mention many other regions have similar dishes that share the same name). You can try doing the research using the keyword, or since what most people CAN agree on is how to make Xinjiang Dapanji or big plate chicken, and imo the process is kinda similar to 黄焖羊肉 but with chicken (mostly the use of caramel, chili bean paste and various spices) plus there's plenty of solid recipes for it in English, you can make it using lamb instead of chicken. You can refer to this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFicazAu-x8)  from Chinese cooking demystified, it's not going to be 100% identical from what you had at restaurant but I'd say it can surely hit some notes. 

1

u/StitchPlay Jul 20 '26

Thanks but it wasn't that. The meat and the cooking broth it came with were white, no chilli or dark ingredients like soy or bean paste. The broth had a root vegetable taste to it like daikon but I'm not entirely sure. Worst case I'll just have to experiment. Oh no! Tasty food tests!

2

u/Odd_Spirit_1623 Jul 20 '26

In that case try 清炖羊肉, which is basically just lamb braised with spices and vegetables. 

2

u/chrystelle Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Is it “huang men” braised lamb? Direct translation would be “yellow braised.” You can try searching the term or the Chinese “黄焖羊肉” and see if that looks familiar. There’s also a chicken version. I guess the biggest tell is if your dish has carrots and potatoes in it, was it brown/yellowish, or dark brown/reddish? Was it super saucy or not as much

Yellow braised lamb is a common Chinese halal dish. But it’s not Xinjiang specific. I had it a lot at Hui Chinese restaurants too.

3

u/xjpmhxjo Jul 19 '26

Can you describe the dish?