Easiest Lamb Stew In The World

Too tired to cook? Too lazy to peel/chop/saute/cook? Then take out that slow cooker (also known as ‘crock pot’ in certain circles) that’s been gathering dust somewhere in your kitchen and try this no-brainer recipe. But only if you like lamb. Because some people are not exactly enamoured with its… err… peculiar aroma.

Easiest Lamb Stew In The World

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 large onions
• 500 grams lamb/mutton cubes (or shoulder or any other portion)
• 250 grams oyster-flavoured sauce (sos tiram) – about half a bottle of the size they’re usually bottled in, as sold in Malaysia
• 2 heaping tablespoons Italian Seasoning
• water
• 2-3 cloves garlic, sliced (optional)

Method:

• Peel the onions and slice them any way you want. They’ll soften and caramelise in the process, so how you slice them won’t matter that much. Put the sliced onions into the slow cooker.
• Wash and drain the meat. Arrange a layer of meat on top of the onions.
• Pour some of the oyster sauce on top of the meat and sprinkle some of the Italian Seasoning on top.
• Repeat the layering process. You can actually chuck in all the ingredients at one go, but I like to layer them. I’m quirky that way :P
• Pour enough water to cover.
• Put the lid on, turn the control knob to ‘High’ and allow to cook for 4 hours (or 6-8 hours on ‘Low’). Do not open the lid so as not to lengthen the cooking time. If your meat is still hard and frozen, leave the stew to cook for 6-8 hours on ‘High’.

Optional: Add 2-3 cloves of sliced garlic to tame the lamb smell a bit.

Suggested additions: sliced mushrooms (button mushrooms in cans will do) — add it about half an hour to an hour before serving the meat — or carrots. For carrots, steam or saute them separately until tender, then add it to the stew towards the end, just like the mushrooms. Otherwise, the carrots will remain hard even if you put it in from the beginning.

This stew is absolutely delicious with crusty bread and also goes well with steamed rice.

The best part about it? I can put in the ingredients in the morning, turn on the slow cooker to ‘Low’, forget about it for the whole day (some 8 hours or so), and come home to a delicious treat in the evening! And your kids will love you for it, too ;)