Day 172: shoulder-sinking serenity

This one has been a long time coming! I made a version of it at Easter - using up what remained of Easter Sunday’s leg of lamb - and as good as it was, nothing was really ever going to compare to the original version; starting with an uncooked lamb shank that is slow cooked in a spiced broth and then left to steep in wobbly juices overnight (or 2 nights, in my instance).

We’re definitely entering broth season; I made this (Nigella’s Wide Noodles with Lamb Shank in Aromatic Broth) for dinner last night and Nigella’s Ramen for lunch today.

Nigella’s Wide Noodles with Lamb Shank in Aromatic Broth

Armed with my shank and the luxury of a quiet evening on the sofa, I set to work on this on Saturday evening; preparing the stock meditatively and mindfully as I measured, spooned, poured and chopped each ingredient to form the aromatic potion in which the lamb shank would bask for several hours in a low oven - transfiguring it into melt-in-the-mouth shreds of tender meat.

Interestingly, I bought my first tub of gochujang paste when I saw Nigella make this very recipe on the Cook Eat Repeat tv show last year. I’ve now just finished my second tub and this only my first time making it; it truly is a store cupboard essential.

I didn’t read that anything in particular should have been done with the carrot and shallot after the slow cook but, to me, it was far too good to throw away. To tide me over the long wait until I could actually take a big belly flop into the broth, I fished the butter-soft shallot and tender carrot out of the sieve, put them into a bowl, scooped a small ladleful of the piping broth over the top and took it, and chunk of buttered baguette, back to the sofa with me.

The eventual union of broth and meat with wide noodles and savoy cabbage was an incredible affair; I’m talking full-on shoulder-sinking, core-collapsing, woe-banishing serenity. And, as recommended in the recipe intro, I also look forward to trying this with beef short ribs.

The recipe for the one can be found on p57 of Cook Eat Repeat and on nigella.com