Braised Lamb Shoulder with Miso and Wild Mushrooms

Miso and lamb is not a traditional pairing anywhere, and it works for a reason you can taste immediately. Lamb shoulder braises into something rich but slightly one note. Miso is fermented, salty and full of glutamates, and it gives the braising liquid a savory floor that stock alone does not reach. Add dried shiitake on top of that and the pot ends up with more depth than a four ingredient braise has any business having.

The one rule with miso is that it does not like hard heat. Boiled aggressively it loses its aroma and turns flatly salty. We whisk half into the braising liquid at the start, where the low oven keeps it under control, and stir the other half in at the end off the heat. The first half seasons the meat. The second half is what you actually smell when it comes to the table.

Bone-in shoulder is worth asking for. The bone gives the sauce body and the meat around it takes longer to dry out, which buys you margin on timing.

Why this miso lamb braise works

• Miso in two additions. Early miso seasons through the meat. Late miso keeps the aroma that a three hour braise would otherwise cook off.
• Dried and fresh mushrooms both. Dried shiitake give the liquid concentration. Fresh mushrooms go in for the last hour so they keep some structure instead of dissolving.
• A low oven, not the stovetop. At 300F the pot sits below a boil on every side, which is what keeps the miso from turning harsh.
• Sake and mirin rather than wine. They bring a light sweetness that sits under the salt instead of fighting it.
• Rice vinegar at the very end. One tablespoon lifts the whole pot. Without it the braise tastes heavy, and most people reading it back cannot say why.

Ingredients

For the lamb

• 4 lb bone-in lamb shoulder (1.8 kg), cut into 2 inch chunks, or 3 1/2 lb boneless
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp neutral oil

For the braise

• 1/2 oz dried shiitake (14 g)
• 1 1/2 cups hot water (360 ml) for soaking
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 inch piece ginger, sliced into coins
• 1/2 cup sake (120 ml), or dry white wine
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp white miso (shiro), divided
• 1 tbsp red miso (aka), optional

To finish

• 1 lb fresh mushrooms (450 g), shiitake, oyster and cremini, torn or quartered
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 scallions, sliced thin

Substitutions: white miso alone is fine, and using only red miso makes the braise heavier and saltier, so cut it to 2 tbsp if that is what you have. Dry sherry replaces sake. For the mirin, use 1 tbsp honey plus 1 tbsp water.

Method

1. Soak the dried shiitake. Cover them with the hot water and leave 20 minutes. Lift them out, slice them, and keep the liquid, pouring it carefully off any grit at the bottom.
2. Salt and sear the lamb. Salt the chunks. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high and sear in batches, about 3 minutes a side, until well browned. Crowding the pan is the most common way to end up with grey lamb, so give each piece room. Set them aside.
3. Cook the aromatics. Pour off all but 2 tbsp of the fat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes until softening, then the garlic and ginger for 1 minute more.
4. Deglaze. Add the sake and mirin, scrape the bottom of the pot clean, and simmer 2 minutes.
5. Dissolve the first miso. Whisk 2 tbsp of the white miso and all the red miso into the mushroom soaking liquid in a separate bowl until smooth, then pour it into the pot with the soy sauce and the sliced soaked shiitake. Never drop miso paste straight into a hot pot. It clumps and the lumps scorch on the bottom.
6. Braise. Return the lamb and any juices. The liquid should come about two thirds up the meat. Bring it to a bare simmer, cover, and move it to a 300F (150C) oven for 2 hours 30 minutes.
7. Add the fresh mushrooms. Stir them in, re-cover, and give it another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the lamb reads 195 to 203F (90 to 95C) and pulls apart under a fork.
8. Skim and reduce. Lift the lamb out. Skim the fat off the surface, then simmer the liquid on the stove 10 minutes until it coats a spoon.
9. Finish off the heat. Take the pot off the burner. Whisk the remaining 1 tbsp white miso into a ladle of the hot liquid, stir it back in, then add the rice vinegar and sesame oil. Taste before adding any salt. Between miso and soy there is usually plenty.
10. Serve. Return the lamb to the sauce, scatter the scallions over, and rest 10 minutes before it goes to the table.

Pro tips and common mistakes

• Never boil miso hard. A rolling boil strips its aroma and leaves salt behind. A bare simmer in a low oven is the target the whole way through.
• Dissolve miso in liquid first. Paste dropped into a hot pot clumps, sinks and burns on the bottom.
• Skim properly. Lamb shoulder throws a lot of fat, and miso sauce that has not been skimmed coats the mouth and mutes everything.
• Hold the fresh mushrooms back. Three hours in the pot and they are texture free. Forty five minutes and they still bite.
• Use a wooden spoon and a metal whisk in an enameled Dutch oven. We keep plastic utensils away from a pot that sits at 300F for three hours.

Storage and leftovers

This is better on day two, which makes it worth cooking ahead deliberately. Refrigerate the lamb in its sauce up to 4 days. The fat sets on top and is easier to lift off cold than to skim hot, so some people cook it a day early for that reason alone.

Reheat gently, covered, at 300F for about 25 minutes, or on the stove below a simmer. It freezes 3 months. Leftover meat shredded off the bone is excellent in a bowl of noodles with some of the sauce thinned with stock, or folded into fried rice with the scallions.

What to serve with it

• Steamed short grain rice, which is the plainest and best option.
• Mashed potato, unorthodox next to miso and very good with this sauce.
• Quick cucumber pickles with rice vinegar and a little sugar.
• Blanched greens, gai lan or spinach, with a splash of the braising liquid.

Nutrition

About 600 calories, 46g protein, 40g fat, and 11g carbs per serving. These are estimates and vary with the exact cut, trim, and any substitutions.

Frequently asked questions

Does this taste like Japanese food?

Not exactly. It reads as a deeply savory braise rather than as a specific cuisine. The miso, sake and sesame point in one direction, but the method and the cut are straight European braising.

White miso or red miso?

White is milder and sweeter and should carry most of the load. Red is stronger and saltier, and a single tablespoon adds depth without taking over. Using only red makes a heavy, salty braise.

Can I use boneless shoulder?

Yes. Use about 3 1/2 lb and check at 2 hours 15 minutes, since boneless cooks faster. The sauce comes out slightly thinner without the bone, so reduce it a few minutes longer.

Can I make this in a slow cooker?

Sear the lamb in a pan first, then cook everything 6 to 7 hours on low, adding the fresh mushrooms in the last hour. Finish the reduction and the second miso addition on the stove, because a slow cooker will not reduce a sauce.

Is the rice vinegar really necessary?

Yes. A tablespoon at the end is the difference between a braise that tastes rich and one that tastes heavy. Add it off the heat so it stays bright.

Where to buy the lamb

Ask for a bone-in shoulder and have it cut into 2 inch chunks, bone and all. Most butchers will do it on a band saw in a minute, and those bones are a large part of why this sauce has body. Find a lamb producer near you through our Find a Farmer directory and ask for a pasture raised shoulder with the fat cap intact.

More on the cut in our lamb shoulder guide and on the animal in the lamb wiki. The method is covered in our guide to braising. More lamb braises: lamb rogan josh and braised lamb shanks.