Even if you do not notice warm days and hot sun, it is impossible to miss the onset of summer: it is at this time before every weekend that the contents of meat counters in the markets are scattered, like hot pies, and queues in supermarkets beat New Year’s records: people are fleeing en masse from the city, preferring to spend time for barbecue.
Shish kebabs – that’s right, in the plural – it’s not a dish, it’s a phenomenon that has become a part of our culture and the cause of many kilometers of traffic jams. But nevertheless, in its center is precisely food – pre-marinated pieces of meat cooked on the grill, which every self-respecting man seems to be able to cook.
However, even such a simple dish has its own secrets (it usually happens with such simple ones). In a word, the question “how to cook a barbecue properly” is not so simple and not idle. Let’s try to answer it.
Connoisseurs of culinary terminology understand that kebabs are not actually fried, but baked. And yet, for some reason, it is customary in Russian to “fry a barbecue”. As they say, it is not us that has been instituted, and it is not for us to change.
Meat…
Connoisseurs of culinary terminology understand that kebabs are not actually fried, but baked. And yet, for some reason, it is customary in Russian to “fry a barbecue”. As the saying goes, it’s not us that we have started, and it’s not for us to change. When choosing meat, remember that not every cut is suitable for barbecue: the meat must be soft (otherwise the barbecue will not be chewed), moderately fat (so that it remains juicy ready) and of high quality otherwise the kebab will be simply tasteless). So, from our beef, only fillet will fit for shish kebab, pork shish kebab is traditionally prepared from the neck or ham, tender chicken chicken can go to the shish kebab almost entirely, but for the lamb, the most suitable part for shish kebab is tenderloin.
But there are several ways to turn less suitable cuts into barbecue – for example, by cooking minced meat from tougher meat, we will make a wonderful kebab, and the fat net, which is sold in the markets, will make it possible to make barbecue from meat that is low-fat in itself , such as veal. Let’s not forget about offal – here the choice is truly extensive and varied – as well as less trivial types of meat, such as duck, game, and so on.
…and not only
If we are talking about non-meat kebabs, fish, seafood, vegetables and mushrooms come to mind. In principle, any fish will do for barbecue, but if we want our barbecue to be tasty and juicy, we need to focus on fish of medium fat content.
The recognized king of fish kebab is sturgeon, the fish is expensive, but delicious, other suitable options are salmon and catfish. Of course, smaller or flatter fish can also be cooked on charcoal, but we will call barbecue only what can be skewered. Almost everything is also suitable for barbecue from seafood, but hardly anything can compare with large shrimps strung on a skewer right in the shell: they really don’t need to be pickled.
A kebab of vegetables and mushrooms is not necessarily the lot of vegetarians, because baked over hot coals, with a smoke aroma, such vegetables are in themselves no worse than any meat. An ideal and very common option for a vegetable kebab is bell pepper, young zucchini and zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes, onions. Among the mushrooms, champignons and porcini mushrooms are unconditionally leading – the former are inexpensive, the latter are tasty, and both can be eaten raw, so there is no need to be afraid of underexposing the kebab over the coals.
Marinade
Marinating is one of the most important steps in the preparation of a kebab, although some believe that good meat does not need any marinade. The reason for this belief dates back to the past, when the main task of the marinade was to soften tough meat, which at the very least could be chewed only after aging in vinegar or other acidic medium.
We really don’t need vinegar – but as a way to give a product a taste and aroma of seasonings and spices, pickling is useful even in the case of excellent quality meat. Let’s say as a dry marinade – that is, just spices with which the meat is seasoned some time before cooking. – and liquid. In this case, the basis may be vegetable oil or a moderately acidic liquid – wine, kefir, onion juice, yogurt.
Everyone has their own recipe for marinade, proven by the experience of generations, but here are a few common mistakes that should be avoided if you do not plan to ruin the kebab:
- Do not overuse acidic environments. The juice of half a lemon or a little wine vinegar may not harm and even give the kebab its flavor, but too much acid will make the meat, albeit soft, but completely tasteless. If, nevertheless, you are going to marinate meat in an acidic environment, do not do it for too long.
- When marinating, it is better to undersalt the meat – otherwise it will give too much juice, and the finished kebab will turn out to be dry.
- Putting in too many different spices is a bad idea. Our task is to reveal and complement the flavor of the original product, not to kill it. Plus, even if you season in moderation, you simply don’t recognize all the spices you’ve added to the marinade.
- Marinate the kebab for at least a few hours. Ideally, overnight (if you haven’t overused acid). Otherwise, the effect of pickling will be so inconspicuous that it was not worthwhile to fence a garden. However, the exact time that should be set aside for marinating depends on the original product and the recipe for the marinade itself.
- Do not marinate kebabs in mayonnaise. No matter what they tell you, it is not intended for this.
Time-tested combinations – pork and onions, lamb and cumin with coriander or rosemary, garlic and black pepper. On this site you will find recipes for other kebab marinades.
Coals
But now the meat is selected, pickled and it’s time to start a fire. Do this well in advance, because it is correct to fry a kebab on gray coals that give stable, even heat, and for this they need to burn out properly (however, “young” coals are better suited for a vegetable kebab).
Many stores and gas stations now sell charcoal for barbecue – this is a win-win option, especially if you do not have much experience, time, or just a desire to fiddle with the barbecue for a long time. In this case, simply pour the lighter fluid (sold there) over the coals, let it soak, and then set it on fire. If your coals blazed cheerfully for a couple of minutes, and then went out, this does not necessarily mean that everything needs to be started from the beginning: blow them over with fresh air, waving a sheet of cardboard or just something large and flat, and if the sides of some coals immediately turn red, it means , Everything’s under control.
After a while, when the coals are harder, you can turn the contents of the barbecue. If you decide to start with firewood, take logs from birch, linden, oak or fruit tree species such as cherry or apple tree. Firewood from grapevines is great for making kebabs. It is categorically not worth frying the kebab on coniferous wood – these logs will give a pungent tar smoke that settles on the kebab, making it unhealthy, and even frankly tasteless. You can flavor the smoke by throwing some dried herbs on the coals.
Either way, let the coals burn through until they are uniformly whitish. You can already cook a shish kebab on such coals – but make sure that you took enough coals or firewood from the very beginning, otherwise the grill will quickly lose heat and the second and subsequent parties of the shish kebab will cook for so long that they have time to dry.
On the grill
It is not a big wisdom to cook a shish kebab correctly: meat cooked in the open air, but in good company, is quite difficult to spoil. But you can. By following these tips, you will be able to avoid a fiasco and prepare a first-class kebab:
- Plant the kebab correctly. A lot depends on how you skewer the meat: it is better to skewer pieces of pork and chicken separately from each other – this way they cook faster and better inside, and beef and lamb, on the contrary, are close to each other in order to preserve juiciness.
- Turn the meat constantly. Most barbecues are made in such a way that each skewer can be placed in four or even eight different positions, do not skimp on this: by regularly turning the skewers with kebabs, you can achieve a uniform golden brown crust on the outside and even roasting on the inside.
- Prevent fire. If you cook fatty meat, the fat will drip onto the coals and immediately ignite, and the flames will cheerfully lick your shish kebab. In fact, there is nothing funny here: on the outside, such meat will cook and even burn, but from the inside it will remain raw. To prevent this, you can move the coals to the side or gently so as not to raise a whirlwind of ash, pour the marinade over the meat and coals. However, from time to time, pouring or coating the kebab with marinade is a good idea in any case, because this way it will turn out to be more juicy.
- Swap skewers. If some skewers cook faster than others, swap them periodically, or even better, stir the coals to ensure an even heat.
- Watch the readiness of the meat. With a little skill in cooking kebabs, you will be able to determine the readiness “by eye”, but do not make a cut in one of the pieces to check how cooked it is inside. This is especially important when preparing chicken and pork kebabs.
- Give the meat a little rest. Do not remove the meat from the skewer right away, let it rest for a minute or two, so less juice will flow out of it.
- The correct choice of side dishes and drinks is no less important than the actual preparation of the kebab. If everything is simple with the first one – fresh or grilled vegetables, fresh bread and a lot of greens, then from drinks it is worth paying attention to dry wine or mineral water: beer, which is often accompanied by barbecue, in most cases does not fit with it at all.
That’s the whole secret. Not that hard, right?