Lamb Belly Skewers with Toum — Victor Liong x Big Green Egg

Victor Liong × Big Green Egg
Victor Liong's Lamb Belly Skewers with Toum on the Big Green Egg

Lamb Belly Skewers with Toum

Serves 4–6
Braise 2 hours
Press Overnight
BGE Temp 200°C
Setup Indirect → Direct
Target 55°C core

Lamb belly is one of the most underused cuts in the home kitchen — rich, fatty and deeply flavoured, but only extraordinary when handled properly. Victor's method presses the braised meat overnight so it firms into a solid block, then cubes and skewers it so every piece has perfectly even layers. On the Big Green Egg, those layers render and caramelise in a way you simply can't replicate on a flat grill.

The toum — a classic Lebanese garlic emulsion — is brushed on twice: once before the direct sear to help colour develop, and again before the cumin spice goes on. The result is a crust that's garlicky, spiced, and slightly charred at the edges. Serve it with the herb salad and some chilli bean sauce on the side for heat.

"The press is everything. Without it you just have braised lamb. With it, you have something you can actually grill."

— Victor Liong

The Recipes

1. Pressed Lamb Belly

3kg Lamb belly
100g Salt
2L Water
20g Garlic, crushed
  1. 1Remove the bones from the lamb belly. Even out the thickness by trimming where needed so it braises and presses evenly.
  2. 2Bring water to a simmer with salt and crushed garlic. Cut lamb into large pieces that fit your pot.
  3. 3Add lamb to the pot and simmer gently for 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and yielding. Do not boil — keep it at a steady simmer.
  4. 4Remove and drain the meat. Stack pieces into a cake tin, layering the meat so the grain runs in the same direction.
  5. 5Press with a heavy weight — a few cans of beans on a tray works well. Refrigerate overnight.
  6. 6Once fully set and cold, turn out the pressed block. Cut into 3.5cm × 3.5cm squares, keeping the beautiful layered cross-section intact.
  7. 7Thread each cube onto a 30cm metal skewer, stacking 3–4 pieces per skewer.
Victor's tip

The overnight press is non-negotiable — it transforms loose braised meat into something that holds its shape on the grill and develops a proper crust. Don't skip it.

2. Toum

130g Garlic, peeled
10g Salt
60g Lemon juice
60g Ice water
600g Vegetable oil
  1. 1Add garlic, salt and lemon juice to a food processor or high-powered blender. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
  2. 2With the motor running, begin trickling in vegetable oil in a very thin, steady stream — like making mayonnaise. Do not rush this step.
  3. 3When the mixture becomes too thick to blend smoothly, add a splash of ice water to loosen it. Alternate between oil and ice water until all the oil is incorporated.
  4. 4The finished toum should be white, fluffy and thick — almost like a garlic mousse. Refrigerate until needed. It keeps for two weeks.
Victor's tip

Cold oil and ice water are essential — warmth will break the emulsion. If it splits, start a fresh base in the blender and slowly add the broken toum back in as if it were oil.

3. Cumin Spice Mix

100g Murray River pink salt flakes
100g Cumin seeds
30g Fennel seeds
50g Sichuan peppercorns
  1. 1Spread whole spices on a tray and toast in a 150°C oven for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Do not let them darken.
  2. 2Cool completely, then blend to a semi-fine powder — you want some texture remaining, not a dust.
  3. 3Mix the blended spice through the pink salt flakes, keeping the flakes intact. Store in an airtight jar.
Victor's tip

This spice mix also appears in the Kashgari Chicken recipe. The Sichuan pepper adds a numbing heat that works beautifully against the richness of the lamb belly. Make a big batch — it keeps for months.

4. Herb Salad

1 head Fennel, shaved paper-thin
1 bunch Coriander, picked and washed
1 bunch Watercress, picked and washed
  1. 1Shave fennel on a mandolin and keep submerged in cold water until ready to use — this keeps it crisp and removes bitterness.
  2. 2Pick coriander into small sprigs and watercress into manageable pieces. Wash and spin dry.
  3. 3Drain fennel and combine all three. Dress lightly with lemon juice and a pinch of salt just before serving.

Grilling the Skewers & Serving

  1. Light the BGE and heat to 200°C. Push the coals to one side to create a two-zone setup — a hot direct zone and a cooler indirect zone.
  2. Place the skewers in the indirect (cool) zone. Close the lid and allow the lamb to heat through until the internal temperature at the thickest point reaches 55°C.
  3. Move the skewers over direct heat with the lid off. Brush generously with toum and grill, turning the skewer to colour all four sides evenly.
  4. Brush with another coat of toum. Sprinkle liberally with cumin spice mix on all sides.
  5. Return to the grill briefly to set the crust — about 1 minute.
  6. Serve immediately on a platter with herb salad, lemon halves and chilli bean sauce on the side.
Pressed lamb belly being cut and skewered Lamb belly skewers grilling on the Big Green Egg
Lamb belly skewers with toum and cumin spice, plated with herb salad Close detail of grilled lamb belly skewer with charred crust
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