In Arabic, laban emmoh means “the milk of its mother,” and this dish is named this because the meat is cooked in the milk of the ewe—well, actually yogurt, but yogurt starts out as milk. It is one of my favorite dishes and I often make and serve it in the summer because the sauce is light and somewhat refreshing even if it is eaten hot. And I can imagine a similar dish being very much what early Muslims ate, as the meat and milk from their flocks was pretty much all they had, together with dates.
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
- 4 lamb shanks (3 pounds 5 ounces/1.5 kg total)
- Sea salt
- 16 baby onions (14 ounces/400 g total), peeled
- Cooked Yogurt Sauce
- Lebanese/Syrian Vermicelli Rice or bread, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put the shanks in a large pot. Add 5 cups (1.25 liters) water and bring to a boil over medium heat, skimming the froth from the surface. Cover the pot and let bubble gently for 1 hour, or until the meat is very tender. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and the baby onions and let simmer for 10 more minutes, or until the onions are just firm-tender.
- Meanwhile, make the cooked yogurt sauce through step 2, setting the herb-garlic mixture aside. For the yogurt, use a pot large enough to eventually hold the cooked shanks and onions. Keep the sauce warm while the meat finishes cooking.
- When the meat and onions are done, return the yogurt sauce to medium-low heat and stir until it starts simmering. Add the meat and onions and stir in the reserved herb-garlic mixture. Add ¼ cup (60 ml) meat broth and simmer, stirring gently so as not to undo the onions, for 3 to 5 more minutes, until the onions are just tender.
- Serve hot with the vermicelli rice or with good bread.
