Peng Shun’s Mongolian roast lamb ribs are astounding.
PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED
“Wow I think you renewed my faith in this dish,” a dining companion said the other day. He was talking about Muslim lamb chop a delicacy that rose to ascendancy on cumin-scented wave of glory at Fu Ran neé Fu Run about five years ago. Sadly Fu Ran’s version ain’t what it used to be. On my last few visits it was precooked, rendering what should be gloriously juicy, fatty lamb flesh rather dry and tight.
Muslim lamb chop also called lamb in Xinjiang style is a specialty of Flushing’s Dongbei restaraunts. The version that rocked our world’s can’t be had at a restaurant though. It’s served in a much more humble setting, New York Food Court.
Peng Shun Spicy Pot (Peng Shun Ma La Xiang Guo) where the dish will run you $20 calls its crowning glory “roasted lamb chop.” The Chinese name, meng gu kao rou, actually translates to Mongolian roast lamb ribs. Whatever you call it, it’s amazing. So amazing I had it twice in the course of a week.
It takes about 10 or 15 minutes to make and is certainly fried to order. A mantle of cumin seeds and red pepper flakes coats what’s surely the most elaborate dish to ever be served in a Flushing food court. Juicy tender meat with just enough gamey funk to get your attention and glorious white lamb fat lays within. It is the spiciest, crispiest, most finger licking version I’ve ever had. Peng Shun provides plastic gloves and a bowl or two of rice. Scoop the heady mixture of cumin seeds and red pepper imbued with lamb fat on top of your bowl.
Like many Flushing food court operators, Peng Shun serves what I like to call stir fry spicy wok salad bar. What really sets it apart though is that glorious lamb dish. I am positively overjoyed that somebody in Flushing is finally doing it justice again.
With the opening of Diverse Dim Sum and the discovery of Flushing’s finest Muslim lamb chop it’s safe to say that New York Food Court is well on its way to becoming more than a clone of New World Mall.
Peng Shun Spicy Pot, No. 13, Newyork Food Court, 133-35 Roosevelt Ave., 646-250-1118
It should be meng gu kao rou, not ro…kao rou directly translated as barbecued meat, though you seem to be suggesting that the lamb’s been fried, not barbecued. Thanks for the tip though, I usually ignore the many “stir-fry a bunch of shit in spicy sauce” stalls in both New World and New York Food Court (though they are popular with the Chinese customers), so I wouldn’t have known about this dish otherwise.
Another must try at New York Food Court is GuChun Private Kitchen’s chao bing – http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2015/02/guchun-private-kitchen.html
Hey Derek,
Thanks for the heads-up on rou,yo! I too avoid many of the stir-fry/salad bar joints. By the way I hear that the stir fry here is especially good also. Love me some Guchun!
…Wow. Beheld!
Loved these parts:
“Fu Ran neé Fu Run”
“mantle of cumin seeds and red pepper flakes”
“just enough gamey funk to get your attention”
“mixture of cumin seeds and red pepper imbued with lamb fat”
Thanks Helen!
Finally found a chance to come here and try this dish on Saturday. Sadly, they either don’t have the dish anymore or were just sold out. I don’t speak Chinese and couldn’t communicate very well with the staff behind the counter. Bummed, your photos look so delicious!
Hey Tiffany,
Sorry you didn’t get to try it. They do sometimes run out. Two weeks ago I was showing some friends around and they were out. Last week I had a food tour client who told me in advance he wanted to try it, so I called in advance and said in my miserable Mandarin”Wo yao meng gu kao rou (i want roast lamb) you bu you (Do you have it or not?) I guess it worked because when we showed up for lunch they had the dish!!
Just went to Peng Shun yesterday … they raised the price of the lamb chop to a crazy $26 🙁 !!!