Barbecued Lamb

Four ingredients, 15 minutes of marinating, 10 minutes on the grill. This lamb recipe is built on restraint, and it works because the quality of the lamb does most of the talking.

The marinade is soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and salt. That combination creates a glaze that caramelizes quickly on the grill and builds a lightly sweet, savory crust on the outside of each thin slice. Thin cuts are key here. They absorb the marinade faster and cook through in 5 minutes per side without drying out.

Fifteen minutes is enough marinating time for thin slices. The soy sauce is salty and assertive and longer marinating can overwhelm the lamb’s natural flavor rather than complement it.

Serve immediately off the grill. This recipe doesn’t benefit from resting.

Kitchen Tips

• Slice the lamb as thinly and uniformly as possible for even cooking. Partially freezing the meat for 20-30 minutes before slicing makes thin, clean cuts easier.
• Make sure the grill is properly hot before the lamb goes on. A hot grill sears and caramelizes the sugar in the marinade; a cool grill steams the meat instead.
• Don’t overcrowd the grill. Thin slices touching each other steam rather than char.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of sesame oil to the marinade for a nutty, toasty depth.
• Use tamari in place of soy sauce to keep this gluten-free.
• A pinch of red pepper flakes in the marinade adds gentle heat without changing the flavor profile significantly.