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Sure you’re working from home. But have you also tried using that time to slow-cook from home? Sunday’s resident chef Sam Mannering suggests you try it.

CHINESE-STYLE SLOW-COOKED CUMIN LAMB WITH PICKLED GINGER, CHILLI AND FRESH CUCUMBER

It’s getting colder. This will, no doubt, lead to a growing number of, “oh, I think I’m going to work from home today” emails. You know the ones, oozing nonchalant martyrdom, with phrases such as “back-to-back zooms” “off-site meetings” and “THAT client”. By 9.07am, over a third coffee, you’ve drafted 11 words of an email. By 9.42am you’re sorting tupperware in front of Netflix. By midday you’ve moved the entire living room around.

Bear in mind that this is coming from someone who has never had a desk job (the grass ain’t greener, by the way, there is no sugar coating a 2am prep session for a wedding the next day). Anyway. I digress. Let this fragrant, slow-cooked dream be your distraction for the day. Let it warm the whole house, as you “work from home”.

I can never understand the point of slow cookers because an oven does the same thing. Never forget that a whole world of opportunity lies below 180°C. Oh – and it doesn’t matter whether you use leg or shoulder – either is fine – I used a boneless leg because it was on special. Bone in? Even better. More flavour.

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

COOK TIME: APPROX 4.5 HOURS SERVES: 4-5

• 1 lamb leg or shoulder, boneless or not (see above)

• Sea salt

• Sesame oil

• Two thumbs worth of ginger, sliced

• 3 tbsp cumin seeds (or more, go a bit nuts)

• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 red onion, finely sliced

• 2 tbsp black Chinese vinegar

• ½ cup soy sauce

• 2 tsp brown sugar

• 1 spring onion, quartered

To serve

• Half a cucumber

• 3 tbsp pickled ginger

• 1-2 tbsp Chinese chilli paste, to taste

• 500g Udon, cumian or similar thick-cut noodles, to serve

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

1. Hack your lamb into four or five manageable pieces if possible, otherwise, if it is easier, keep whole. Season well with salt and toss in sesame oil.

2. Get a large casserole or lidded ovenproof saucepan and let it heat up over a moderately high heat on the stovetop. Add a tablespoon or so of sesame oil. Fry the lamb quickly on all sides until well browned. Don’t crowd the pan or the meat won’t brown – do it in batches if necessary.

3. Add a little more sesame oil if necessary and follow with the sliced ginger and cumin seeds. Fry for a minute or two until fragrant – take care not to let it burn.

4. Follow with the garlic and red onion and continue to fry for 6-7 minutes until soft and translucent.

5. Return the meat to the pan with the vinegar, soy, brown sugar and spring onion. Add enough water so the meat is just covered, then pop a lid on tightly and place in the oven to cook slowly.

6. After about the third hour, start peeping – once the lamb is meltingly tender and falling apart, and the liquid has thickened and reduced. Taste and season.

7. Finely chop the cucumber and shred the ginger. Combine together with enough chilli paste to taste.

8. To serve, arrange the cooked and rinsed noodles over a warm serving dish. Spoon the lamb and enough of the reduced liquid over the top. Scatter over the cucumber, ginger and chilli mix, and serve.

UDON NOODLES

Flour, salt and water. Who would’ve thought. The key things to remember here are to use good quality, finely milled flour (00 grade is excellent); give the dough time to rest and relax, and to rinse them under cold (preferably iced) water once cooked – this gives them that distinctive bounce. It is a little time consuming, but boy is it satisfying. Wait until you have people over, so you can casually mention mid-meal how much nicer homemade udon is compared with store bought. In China these are known as cumian, which is the ancestor to the ubiquitous Japanese udon and the Korean equivalent, garak-guksu. This style of noodle is commonly added to a simple broth and then garnished with whatever you fancy – be it a smattering of spring onion, a dash of soy and some rich umami dashi, or sliced cooked meat, vegetables, crisp tempura prawns, you name it. “Dry” stir-fried preparations include yaki udon and Shanghai style. If you are making them, it is best to serve them on the day – they don’t really keep for more than a day.

PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES, PLUS 2 HOURS RESTING TIME COOK TIME: 10 MINUTES SERVES: MAKES ABOUT 500g

• 1 tbsp salt

• 200g water

• 400g plain flour, plus extra, for dusting

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve the salt in the water, then mix in the flour. As messy as it is, your hands are best for this. Continue to mix and knead for about 6-7 minutes, getting past the sticky stage, kneading and kneading, until you have a smooth, elastic, pliable dough.

2. Shape the dough into a ball and cover with cling film. Set aside to rest for at least an hour.

3. Remove the cling film, dust with a little flour and roll out to a rectangle, about 2mm.

4. Dust with a bit more flour before folding into thirds, then slice into noodles – the thickness is entirely up to you, but I think about 2mm is perfect, bearing in mind they will swell up when cooked. Shake out and dust with a little more flour to prevent them from sticking.

5. To cook, drop into salted simmering water and gently boil for 7-8 minutes until tender, before draining them and rinsing under cold water to remove any excess starch. This will make them wonderful and springy.