Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 kg Potatoes (diced)
- 500g Onions (diced)
- 500g Lamb Mince or 1 sheep’s head (boiled, and the meat stripped off) – the sheep head meat is to be preferred
- 300g Lamb Liver (trimmed and minced)
- 1 Lamb Heart (trimmed and minced)
- 160g Leaf Lard
- 120g Groats (Rolled Oats)
- 2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ***
- Optional but strongly recommended:
- 1 sheep’s stomach
Instructions
- Note: We give the recipe method for steaming the haggis in a pudding basin for convenience as well, but for authenticity you will need 1 sheep stomach, ask your butcher in advance for this. The day before you must clean it thoroughly, scald it in hot water, turn it inside out and soak it overnight in cold salted water. In the morning rinse the stomach under cold running water for a few minutes.
- Before starting: trim and mince the lamb heart and liver (if your butcher has not already done so for you) – dice the potatoes and onions small and melt the leaf lard in a saucepan.
- Place the diced potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water. Boil for no more than ten minutes or until soft. Drain and tip into a very large mixing bowl.
- In a frying pan add some of the rendered (melted) leaf lard. Fry the onions on a gentle heat for about 8 minutes, or until soft, and empty into the mixing bowl with the potatoes. Return the frying pan to the heat and add in more leaf lard.
- Fry in small batches the lamb mince, the minced heart and the minced liver. Season each of the batches with some fine sea salt and ground black pepper and only fry until coloured. Add each cooked batch to the mixing bowl with the potatoes and onions.
- Finally into the mixing bowl add the rolled oats and any remaining leaf lard. Mix everything together, and add a tablespoon or two of water to loosen the mixture if needed (it should not be very loose). Make sure the mixture is evenly mixed with no one ingredient clumping together. Then pack it into the cooking container very tightly.
- Steaming In A Pudding Basin:
- Pack the Mollag mixture into a large, lightly greased pudding basin, cover it with a double sheet of silicone paper (baking parchment) and a sheet of foil and tie it securely with string (you might need to borrow someone’s finger for this). It’s also a good idea to tie a piece of string across the top to make a handle to lift the pudding in and out of the steamer.
- Stand the pudding basin in a steamer or in a deep saucepan on an upturned heatproof plate to raise it off the bottom. Pour in boiling water to come half way up the side of the pudding basin or fill under the steamer in the water compartment. Bring up to a medium simmer, cover with a tight fitting lid, and steam for 3 to 4 hours, topping up with boiling water from time to time – for the last two hours turn down to a low simmer.
- Boiling In A Sheep’s Stomach:
- Spoon the Mollag mixture into the sheep’s stomach, turned back the right way after soaking it the night before, so it’s just over half full and packed in very tight. Sew up the stomach with strong thread and prick a couple of times with a small pin so it doesn’t explode while cooking.
- Put the mollag in a pan of boiling water (enough to cover it) and cook for 3 to 4 hours without a lid, on a medium simmer – for the last two hours turn down to a low simmer. Keep adding more water to keep the mollag covered – it is important to keep checking the level of the water so that it does not run dry.
- Serving And Eating:
- When the Mollag has been steamed or fully boiled, let it get quite cold and store it in the fridge for the next morning.
- On the morning of serving, turn out the Mollag (Manx Haggis), from the container you used, (stomach or basin) slice it and re-heat in a frying pan with a little leaf lard. Or eat it as an evening meal, fried in slices and served with seasonal vegetables and a lamb gravy. Note: It might not slice easily and remain a little mince like, but this is fine and quite traditional.
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
Nutrition
- Calories: 1336.05 kcal
- Sugar: 7.26 g
- Sodium: 1328.69 mg
- Fat: 91.53 g
- Saturated Fat: 42.65 g
- Trans Fat: 0.01 g
- Carbohydrates: 79.91 g
- Fiber: 11.01 g
- Protein: 49.13 g
- Cholesterol: 441.35 mg
