These Grilled Lamb Chops with Thai-inspired Crying Tiger Sauce are smoky, tangy and delicious! The best way to spice up your summer BBQ!
I teamed up with the American Lamb Board to bring you this post. As always, all opinions are my own.
Ingredient notes
- American Lamb Loin Chops
For the Marinade
- Olive oil, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt & pepper.
Crying Tiger Dressing Ingredients
- Lime Juice – Fresh squeezed is best.
- Fish Sauce – More on this below.
- Brown Sugar
- Garlic
- Lemongrass
- Green Onions
- Cilantro
- Thai Red Chili Peppers – These can pack some heat. For less heat, swap them out for a seeded jalapeno or fresno chile.
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Toasted Rice Powder (more on that below)
Cucumber Salad Ingredients
- Cucumbers
- Shallots
- Fresh Herbs – Mint Leaves & Cilantro
I’ve mentioned before how I prefer cooking with American Lamb, but just to recap, here’s why I choose it over lamb from Australia or New Zealand:
By choosing American Lamb, you’re supporting local farmers and ranchers throughout the US.
Raising lamb in the US is a family affair with more than 80,000 family owned operations.
Sheep improve pasture quality by recycling vital nutrients back into the soil, minimizing erosion and encouraging plant growth.
The majority of sheep in the states graze pastures for most of their lives.
As for the remaining ingredients in this dish, there’s a couple ingredients in this recipe that you may not be too familiar with…
Fish Sauce
Fish sauce can smell quite pungent out of the bottle, but once it gets mixed with the other ingredients you won’t even know it’s there. It just gives a nutty, salty, umami characteristic to the dish. That hint of something extra that just takes it over the top.
You should be able to find it easily in the international foods aisle of your supermarket. Or, purchase it online.
Lemongrass
Lemongrass looks like thin, pale green stalks and it’s generally sold in bundles of two or three. You’ll need about three stalks for this recipe because only the lower stalk (near the bulb) is tender and edible.
When cooking with lemongrass, you only want to use the tender part of the bulb section. To cut lemongrass, first remove the knobby end of the stalk and cut it in half lengthwise. Remove the tough outer leaves and find the inner tender flesh (it should pierce easily with your fingernail). Then, finely chop that tender inner section.
You can also take a shortcut and purchase lemongrass paste that is sold in plastic bottles in the produce department near the packaged herbs.
Toasted Rice Powder
Toasted rice powder gives an amazing crunch to this dish and has a nutty, creamy flavor to it.
Just toast some white rice grains (you can use jasmine or white rice) in a small sauté pan and then grind them up using a mortar and pestle, until they’re about the size of breadcrumbs.
Or, you can use a coffee grinder to get that breadcrumb-like texture. Honestly, that’s what I do most often. Just be sure to run a batch of rice through there first, before you grind up the rice that you’re actually going to eat. That way you can wipe it clean and be sure that no coffee grounds remain.
Tip: This is also a great way to clean your coffee grinder.
How to make it
Step 1
Dressing
- Add lime juice, fish sauce, water, lemongrass, garlic, brown sugar, green onions, cilantro, thai chiles, red pepper flakes and toasted rice powder to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings with additional lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, if needed.
Step 2
Marinate the Lamb
- Marinate the lamb in a blend of olive oil, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 30-minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
Step 3
Grill the Lamb
- Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat (about 500-degrees). Sear the lamb until it is well browned on one side, 4-6 minutes. Flip and cook until medium rare, another 4-6 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Note: USDA recommends cooking lamb to an internal temperature of 145F with a 3 minute rest.
Step 4
Cucumber Salad
- Add the cucumber, shallots, cilantro and mint to a large bowl. Add 3 Tablespoons of the crying tiger sauce and 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Toss gently to combine and season with additional salt, to taste.
- Serve the salad alongside the lamb chops, with the remaining crying tiger sauce and toasted rice powder on the side. Enjoy!
More lamb chop recipes
Did you try this recipe?
If you loved these lamb chops with crying tiger sauce, I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a ⭐️star review⭐️! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.
For more great Platings and Pairings recipes, be sure to follow me on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Facebook.
Full Recipe
Grilled Lamb Chops with Crying Tiger Sauce
Equipment
- Grill or Grill Pan
Ingredients
Lamb
- 10 American lamb loin chops (1-inch thick, or lamb rib chops)
Marinade
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic (grated or minced)
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Crying Tiger Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons lime juice
- 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 clove garlic (grated or minced)
- 2 Tablespoons minced lemongrass (remove the tough outer leaves and slice the tender white core)
- 1 Tablespoon green onions (finely sliced )
- 1 Tablespoon cilantro (finely chopped )
- 4 Thai red chili peppers (or jalapeno, fresno chile, serrano pepper)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon toasted rice powder (*** see below)
Rice Powder***
- 2 Tablespoons uncooked jasmine rice (or long or short grain white rice)
Salad
- 1 English cucumber (seeded and small diced)
- 1 Tablespoon shallot (minced)
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro ( leaves and stems, roughly chopped)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves (loosely packed, roughly chopped)
- 3 Tablespoons crying tiger sauce
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
Marinade
- Combine the olive oil, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Pour the mixture over the lamb chops and let marinate at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
Crying Tiger Sauce
- Add all ingredients to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
Rice Powder
- Put rice in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the grains are toasted and golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and then grind into a coarse powder in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
Grill the Lamb Chops
- Heat grill to 500-degrees and grill chops for 4-6 minutes per side, until the internal temperature reads 135-degrees, for medium-rare. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
- Note: USDA recommends cooking lamb to an internal temperature of 145F with a 3 minute rest.
Salad
- Add the cucumber, shallots, cilantro and mint to a large bowl. Add 3 TBSP crying tiger sauce and 1 TBSP olive oil. Toss gently to combine.
Serving
- Serve the salad alongside the lamb chops, with the remaining crying tiger sauce and toasted rice powder on the side. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply