Jamaican Mutton and Lime Leaf is a tradition Jamaican recipe from the Chinese community for a stew of mutton flavoured with Chinese spices and lime leaves. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Jamaican version of: Jamaican Mutton and Lime Leafs.
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I'm really dusting off some old recipe now. I've been collecting recipes for a lifetime and during my university days one of my mates (whom I used to play shoggi with) was Jamaican Chinese and that afforded me an opportunity to gather recipes (both homely and restaurant) from that rather unique community.
This is a stew of mutton and lime leaves with Chinese spices that is a staple of the Jamaican Chinese community. You need meat that can be cut int cubes for this and as well as a haunch of mutton it will work with any well-flavoured slightly tough meat such as goat, venison or even beef oxtail that will become tender with prolonged cookery.
Ingredients:
1.5kg (3 lbs) mutton, meat cut into bite-sized pieces
3 small garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese Five-spice powder
2 tsp ground star anise
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks
3 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp fresh lime leaves, thinly shredded
Stock or water, to cover the meat
2 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch) dissolved to a slurry in 2 tbsp water.
1 small Scotch bonnet chilli, finely diced (remove seeds and membranes for a milder sauce)
Method:
Place the meat pieces in a bowl and sprinkle or scatter over the soy sauce, five-spice powder, star anise and ginger. Using your hands rub the spices into the meat pieces and set aside to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 40 minutes.
Add half the sesame oil to a wok over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, and working in batches stir-fry the meat until nicely browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Top up the oil in the wok and fry the next batch.
Return the meat to the wok, add the lime leaves and stock (enough to cover the meat). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 80 minutes, or until the meat is tender. During this time, top up the liquid as desired. You are looking for a thick gravy, but don’t allow the meat to dry out.
Add the oyster sauce and the cornflour slurry along with the Scotch bonnet pieces (add fewer for a milder sauce). Allow the sauce to thicken to a gravy.
Serve accompanied by boiled white rice or Chinese noodles.
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