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Shish Taouk

Chicken pieces marinated in spices and grilled thread on skewers.

Kebab is part of everyday cuisine throughout the Middle East. Lamb is the traditional meat, but depending on local tastes and religious prohibitions, other meats include beef, pork, goat, chicken or fish. Redolent of garlic, coriander and thyme, these Lebanese chicken skewers are accompanied by the traditional light garlic sauce, toum.
Shish kabob (or kebab, if you prefer), literally means “gobbets of meat roasted on a spit or skewers.”
This awesome concept is Mediterranean in origin, the earliest mentions point to the Turks and Byzantine Greeks. The word shish means "sword" or "skewer."

Adapted from the blog "Food 52" (www.food52.com

Ingredients:

Shish taouk:

  • 1 cup Greek-style yogurt

  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

  • ½ tablespoon za'atar (see spice mix recipe)

  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  • ¼ teaspoon ground coriander

  • ⅛ teaspoon pimentón (smoked paprika)

  • 3 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

  • 1 lemon for grilling, cut into rounds or wedges

  • Chopped fresh thyme

Toum (garlic sauce):

  • 3 cloves of garlic

  • Juice of 1 lemon

  • Large pinch of kosher salt

  •  large egg white

  • ⅔ cup canola oil

  • Small bowl of ice water

Preparation:

  1. Mix the first 9 ingredients, from the yogurt to the pimentón, in a large bowl. Cut the chicken into medium-sized chunks, toss in the marinade, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate, ideally overnight, until ready to grill.

  2. To make the toum (garlic sauce), put the garlic cloves, the salt, and 1/4 of the lemon juice in a blender. Blend on medium speed until the garlic is chopped, scraping down the sides as necessary. With the blender still on medium speed, add the egg white through the feed tube and continue to blend. Add half the oil in a slow, thin stream. At this stage, the emulsification should have taken hold. Switch to a slow blend and slowly add the rest of the lemon juice. Add the rest of the oil in the same fashion. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of ice water while still mixing on low. At this point you should have a sauce with the consistency of a light mayonnaise. Taste for salt and to check the strength of the garlic flavor. Reserve the sauce for dressing your grilled shish taouk.

  3. About a half hour before you’re ready to grill, take the chicken from the fridge and skewer the chunks. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Toss the lemon wedges in a small bowl with olive oil and salt and pepper and skewer. Preheat the grill. Grill each skewer until it reaches your desired degree of doneness, remove to a platter, and tent with foil to keep warm until all the skewers are complete.

  4. To serve, place the grilled ingredients on a round of warmed Syrian bread, top with a generous helping of toum, sprinkle with chopped fresh thyme, and squirt with a grilled lemon wedge.

Note: to make this a complete meal, accompany with skewers of grilled cremini mushrooms, peppadew peppers, cipollini onions, zucchini, halloumi cheese, lemons and pita bread.

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