Regional Recipes Turkey: Lamb Kebab

[eatingclub] vancouver has chosen Turkey as the spotlight region for this month's Regional Recipes, and while I’ve never been to Turkey (but it’s high on the list!) to experience the food firsthand, I did live in Denmark, which might be the 2nd best thing. Confused? Let me explain...

Many people may not know there is a sizeable Turkish immigrant population in Denmark (as well as other Western European countries). The first wave came over as guest workers during the labor shortage in the 60’s and decided to stay. The guest workers subsequently brought over their families, their religion, their customs and, of course, their food. Of all the things these guest workers brought with them, it’s the food that seems to have been absorbed most readily into Danish society.

Nothing says "eat me!" like a picture of a kebab sandwich in your face, except maybe a real kebab sandwich in your face.

The interesting thing about Turkish (and other Middle Eastern) cuisine in Denmark is that it’s usually offered as quick food—things like sharwarma or kebab—and it is very popular. In Copenhagen you didn’t have to look very hard for a sharwarma joint, even at 3 AM after a night of pub crawling (the best time to eat kebab IMO). Our favorite place was located on StrØget, the pedestrian shopping street. They boasted the best sharwarma in the city and that their secret was a spice combination consisting of an outlandish number of spices. The number that keeps coming to mind is 65, but that just can’t be right. Maybe the place is still there and still popular? I’ll have to try to squeeze in a visit the next trip to DK.

So what’s the difference between a sharwarma and a kebab? Honestly, I’m not really sure. I always thought sharwarma consisted of sliced meat that was compressed into a big hunk and slow cooked on a vertical spit. When you order, a little meat is shaved off, quickly browned then rolled in a flatbread with some dressing and maybe some tomato. Kebabs always bring to mind seasoned meat (chunks or minced) grilled on a skewer then rolled in flatbread or served with a rice pilaf. That’s just my understanding, but people seem to use the terms interchangeably, so how's a girl supposed to know? If you have any insight, do chime in!

Since I didn’t have an occasion or the equipment to slow cook a hunk of compressed lamb on a spit, I went for the easy route and made minced meat kebab sandwiches. Can’t really go wrong with anything comprised of well-seasoned minced meat on a stick, now can you? The only thing was missing the rinky-dink-hole-in-the-wall-everyone-around-me-is-half-drunk ambiance. You know how some things just taste better when eaten in a particular context? Going to have to figure out how to achieve that in my backyard.☺

Lamb kebabs

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp paprika or cayenne
• 1 tsp ground cumin or coriander
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg or cinnamon
• 1 to 2 tbs toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp kosher salt (I use Diamond brand)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tbs all-purpose flour

Mix everything well, form onto skewers (pre-soaked if using wood), then grill until done. Can’t get much easier than that.

Serve with a nice rice pilaf and fresh sliced tomato and cucumber. Or in a flatbread of your choice with tomato and yogurt dressing (Greek-style yogurt + chopped fresh mint and/or cilantro, squeeze of lemon, finely chopped garlic and salt).


This is my submission to Regional Recipes. I'm hosting this month and will take submissions up until May 20th. Send them, along with a picture that is approximately 250x250 pix to blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com.

Related posts you may enjoy:
Falafel

Daddy's Got Skilz

My in-laws are visiting for a few days. They wanted an extended summer, but what they are getting is hell. Literally. It's been 90+ degrees inside the house for the last two days and even I, the one who grew up in Las Vegas, am feeling uncomfortable. Just imagine how miserable the Vikings are feeling. Oh well, nothing to do but drink more beer!

Danes have a collective skill. They can open beer bottles with just about any object. Normally they just use lighters, but a fork, blunt knife, rock and as you can see, a hammer works well too.

Obviously, we haven't been cooking food inside. Tonight we grilled up chicken that was so delicious, it was snapped up before I could pull some aside to snap a proper picture. I marinated the chicken in a paste made by combining naam phrik phao with some garlic and Thai sweet basil. Can't go wrong with that combination, can you? So here you go!

Watch the master at work! And if you're following the gas vs coal saga, we still haven't done it.

Grilled Chicken Marinated in Naam Phrik Phao and Thai Sweet Basil

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (breasts will work okay too)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbs naam phrik phao
• 2 handfuls Thai sweet basil (use the stem and flowers too!)
• 4 tbs thin soy sauce or about 2-3 tbs regular soy sauce

When I grill thighs, I like to pound them to get them to a uniform thickness. Breaking down the meat fibers a little also allows the marinade to penetrate better, which means less marinating time. I definitely recommend doing this.

Make the marinating paste by pounding the garlic and Thai sweet basil. Transfer to a bowl and add the naam phrik phao and soy sauce. Mix well.

Add the paste to the chicken and rub it around to coat the chicken. Marinate for at least 3 hours in the fridge. Pounded chicken breasts need less time. One to 2 hours is probably sufficient for them. Take the chicken out of the fridge about 30 to 45 minutes before grilling to take the chill off. Grill over direct heat.

I served the chicken with Thai sticky rice. I also put out some sambal oelek, naam phrik phao and soy sauce for dipping.

Here are some other recipes using naam phrik phao that you may enjoy: Beef and asparagus stir-fry, stir-fry with naam phrik phao, Thai basil and coconut milk, shrimp and pomelo salad, and Thai hot and sour soup.

Kickin' it Old School Style

I’m what some people might call a technology idiot old school. Hubby is exactly the opposite. It's like George Jetson married to Wilma Flintstone. We're constantly discussing the value of modern-day conveniences. In my opinion, these so-called conveniences are either a waste of money or end up being a big pain in the ass. Like the dumb "universal" remote control that only controls half of the TV accessories. Don't get me wrong, I love things like electricity and indoor plumbing, but why do I need a camera phone that can play MP3s? Why do I need a panini maker when I have a perfectly good cast iron grill pan and lid? Why do I need an espresso machine when the stove top brewer works perfectly fine?

The latest issue is whether we should get a gas grill. Hubby thinks gas would be swell, while I’m a die-hard charcoal fan. Food tastes better over coals and wood and there's no threat of freak explosions. But with the shitty spring weather we had here in Portland, I almost caved. It would be so easy to just turn on the gas and throw our hot dogs on 5 minutes later. We could grill every day this summer, even on the days we get home late from work. Heck, we could grill all year long, no matter the weather. It's such a tempting thought!

While I agonize over the issue, you should make this delicious Korean-style grilled pork I made this last weekend. I completely ripped this idea from was inspired by manggy, who posted about a mouthwatering Korean barbequed chicken. Do check out the post; his picture is enough to induce uncontrollable drooling. He did it as a stir-fry, but I decided to try it grilled. Oh man, was it good! Thanks to manggy for the inspiration!

Note: Scanning the ingredients, you may think this dish may be too spicy; it’s not. The heat from the gochujang is a subtle heat, not like the in-your-face heat of a birdseye chilli. My 5-year-old enjoyed this dish as much as Hubby and I did.

Korean-style Grilled Pork

• 4 to 5 tbs gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
• 3 tbs tamari (regular old Kikkoman is fine)
• 2 tbs rice vinegar
• 3 tbs browns sugar or honey
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs grated ginger
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 2 pounds boneless pork loin chops (or tenderloin or even chicken, if you prefer)
• toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
• green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal for garnish (optional)

Make the marinade by combining all the ingredients, except the pork. Mix well to get a uniform mixture. Taste the mixture and adjust according to your preference. Keep in mind, it will be less spicy on the cooked pork.

Since the marinade is more like a barbeque sauce, I recommend giving the chops a couple of wacks with a meat mallet. Don’t annihilate the meat; just a couple of solid wacks to flatten them slightly. This breaks down the fibers of the meat a little and allows the marinade to penetrate better.

Marinate the meat for at least 4 hours in the fridge, but longer is better. I started it in the morning and let it go all day. Take the meat out of the fridge up to one hour before grilling to take the chill off.

Couple of things to keep in mind when grilling. Grill over direct heat, but the coals shouldn't be blazing hot. Watch carefully because the marinade will burn quite easily. It may only take a couple of minutes each side, depending on how thick your chops are. You definitely don’t want to overcook loin chops, unless you like dry-ass pork.

Before serving, garnish with the toasted sesame seeds and green onions. I served the pork with Japanese-style rice and a simple stir-fry of carrots, celery and ginger. A side of kimchi would also go great!

Grandma's Visit is Worth 2 or 3 Pounds

Mom arrived last Tuesday and commandeered my kitchen. Part of me is a bit annoyed because I can’t find anything and there’s been a constant aroma of Thai food in my home, and I suspect, on my clothing. Oh, and I’ve gained 3 pounds. Truthfully though, most of me is not annoyed because I haven’t eaten this well since I left home in 1993. In six days I’ve eaten red curry, pad Thai, thom kha gai, Issan sausages, fishcakes, fried mackerel, som tom, fried rice, sticky rice with mango, naam prik kapi with various veggies, and chicken satay. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to be photographed in action, and I didn’t photograph most of the food, but I did manage to get the chicken satay. And yes, it tasted as good as it looks.

Chicken Satay

• 3 Asian shallots (or 1 large French shallot), roughly chopped
• 5 cloves garlic
• 4 coriander roots roughly chopped
• 1 knob ginger, approximately the size of an adult thumb, sliced
• 1 tbs ground coriander
• 1tbs ground cumin
• 1 tbs madras curry powder (or yellow curry paste)
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 large can coconut milk, cream removed and reserved
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2-3 lbs pork sirloin, tenderloin or chicken, sliced for skewering
• 1 portion peanut sauce (recipe follows)
  

Mom doesn’t own a food processor, so she chops everything small, then pounds the hell out of it in a mortar. I don’t have the patience for that so I use a food processor. Your choice, but honestly, the result will be the same. In a food processor, combine the shallots, garlic, coriander roots and ginger. Pulse until you have a uniform paste. In a large Ziploc bag, combine the paste and other ingredients. Marinate in the fridge overnight. An hour before grilling, thread the meat onto skewers. Pour the marinade over the skewers and a set aside until ready to grill.



Peanut sauce

• 1 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped or pulsed in a food processor
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 knob ginger about the size of an adult thumb, crushed or grated
• 1 tsp massaman or yellow curry paste
• chilies, to taste, crushed or sliced
• reserved coconut cream from above + 1 small can coconut milk
• salt or fish sauce (or both) to taste
• 1-2 tbs sugar, to taste

In a wok (preferred) or small sauce pan, add about 1 tbs peanut or vegetable oil. When hot (but not smoking), add the ginger, garlic, chilies and curry paste. Saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the reserved coconut cream slowly down the sides of the wok. It will spit and spatter, but not too violently. Allow the mixture to cook at medium heat for 5 minutes or until the oil starts to separate out. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Add the peanuts and coconut milk, sugar and salt. Allow to simmer. The oil should continue to separate. Stir frequently to prevent burning. If it looks like this, you’re done.

There’s no doubt this sauce has a lot of oil, mostly due to the coconut milk. If you let the sauce sit for a bit in a bowl, a lot of the oil will rise to the top and you can skim or pour it off.

What to do with Leftover Chipotle Marinated Tri-tip?

I love leftover grilled meats and fish because I love making meat salads. This type of dish is so easy to throw together because the cooking has already been done and everything is to taste, so you really can’t go wrong. I like to keep it simple by adding only 1 or 2 basic veggies, like onion or tomatoes, and fresh herbs. My favorite herbs to use (alone or in combination) are mint, cilantro, basil, or Italian parsley. A squeeze of lime or lemon will give it a fresh citrus taste. This really is the perfect noshing food and it goes great with beer!

For this salad, I used a little of the chipotle BBQ sauce (see original post for details) to moisten the meat. If you don’t have the BBQ sauce, you can add a tsp or two of chipotle in adobo sauce and ¼ tsp sugar instead. I added sweet onions, cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and fish sauce (most people would use salt, but the Thai in me is always reaching for the fish sauce). Served with lettuce leaves, it made a wonderful light meal.

Other delicious options include corn kernels, zucchini, shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, avocado, bell pepper, and celery.

My Latest Favorite Thing

My new favorite thing to add to everything is chipotle in adobo sauce. It’s spicy and smoky and just adds extra depth to just about any dish. I’ve been adding it to fresh salsa and BBQ sauces, and of course I’ve used it to make this delicious dressing. Today we grilled a delicious tri-tip that was marinated overnight in a chipotle marinade. The beef was nicely spiced, but not too spicy for Sonny, who devoured his share.

Grilled Chipotle-marinated Tri-tip

• 1-2 tbs chipotle in adobo sauce (more to taste)
• 5 anchovy filets, minced
• 1 tbs worchestershire
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs honey
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• handful of cilantro, finely chopped
• 2-4 tbs oil
• 1 ¼ to 1 ¾ lb tri tip (or flank steak)
• ¼ to 1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl, except the oil, and whisk until you get a uniform mixture. Slowly add the oil, while whisking, until you get a semi-thick liquid. Add the marinade along with the beef into a large Ziploc bag and marinate overnight in the fridge. An hour before grilling the steak, take it out of the fridge to take the chill off (reserve the marinade). Make sure you generously season the steak with salt before grilling. Don’t be shy, as a lot of it will drip off, so you want to be sure something will be left on there.

To make a basting or dipping sauce, combine about ½ to 2/3 cup of the reserved marinade with ¼ to 1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce. Heat over low heat until heated through and bubbly. An alternative is to combine the BBQ sauce with the reserved marinade in a microwavable bowl and blast it for two or three minutes. If you do this, give it a stir after each minute. Cool to room temperature if using as s dipping sauce.

Now I'm Glad I Didn't get the Salsa

This last Christmas, a coworker gave me this. She gave the other coworkers salsa. As everyone else dug into their salsa, I sat staring at the jar, wondering what the hell it was. She didn’t actually know either, but heard it was good from “another Asian lady” (she meant well so I wasn’t offended). I put it in my pantry with every intention of finding out what it was, but it got pushed to the back of the shelf, and eventually I forgot all about it. Then a couple of days ago, hubby found it while looking for a snack.

After doing a quick Google search, I believe it’s Gochu-jan, or Korean chili paste (anyone in the know, please correct me if I’m wrong). Proceeding under that assumption, I found a recipe for a Korean-style grilled beef (yes, this is the second one this week) and let me tell you, it was good. Click here to see the original recipe on Foodnetwork.com, courtesy of Ming Tsai (an old culinary hero of mine).

Korean-style Grilled Beef

• ½ cup Korean chili bean paste (also called gochu-jan)
• 2 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs minced ginger
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 cup canola oil
• ¼ cup sesame oil
• 1 ½ bunch chopped scallions
• ½ bunch chopped cilantro
• 1 tri tip steak (about 1 ½ to 2 lbs)
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal for garnish
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish
• 1 portion dipping sauce (recipe below)

Put everything, except the meat and oils, into a food processor and blend. As you’re blending, slowly add in the oils. Reserve at least ½ cup of the marinade for making the dipping sauce. Use the rest to marinate the meat overnight. Take the meat out of the fridge about an hour before grilling. Season with salt and grill to medium-rare. I actually seared the beef on cast iron and finished it in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

The original recipe used 3 lbs of hanger steak, which is not easy to find. I used tri tip. If you can’t find those, flank steak would be another option. These three cuts of beef should not be cooked more than medium (optimally medium-rare), otherwise they will be dry. Please let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes before you cut into it, especially the tri tip. It is a thicker cut of beef and needs time for the juices to settle. Slice the meat thinly and against the grain. Another tasty option would be to use pork sirloin or tenderloin.

Serve with Japanese rice and kimchee (see the original recipe for cucumber kimchee). And don’t forget the dipping sauce!

Dipping sauce:
½ cup of reserved marinade
½ tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon

Mix everything in a bowl and enjoy. It’s great for dipping tofu too!

Finger-licking good

I found this recipe for Thai grilled chicken years ago, but I can’t remember where it came from. It’s incredibly good, even better than what you will find in most Thai restaurants IMO. Perfect with sticky rice.



Thai Grilled Chicken:

• 2 stalks lemon grass, whites only
• 2 tbs ginger, grated or crushed
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/3 cup cilantro, preferably stems with roots
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs curry paste (any Thai paste will do)
• 1 ½ cups light soy sauce
• chicken, approximately 2-3 lbs (see note below)
• 1 portion sweet chilli dipping sauce (recipe follows)

I like to use a mortar and pestle to make the marinade because I have a large one, like this. Otherwise, it's just as effective to use a food processor. Start by pounding the lemon grass, ginger, garlic and cilantro until everything is well mash. Transfer to a bowl and add the sugar, soy sauce and curry paste. Mix until you get a uniform consistency.

How long to marinate? For chicken with skin and bones, I typically marinade for 6-8 hours. A whole chicken cut in half should go for about 8 hours. For boneless breasts, I pound them a little and marinate them for about 4 hours. This time I did chicken wings and marinated them for 5 hours.

The best way to cook the chicken is to grill it. However, that only happens during the three months of nice weather here in Portland. I do thighs, drumsticks, and breasts on the grill, and during the other 9 months out of the year, I do whole (cut in half) chickens in the (convection) oven at 350º for about 50 minutes to an hour and chicken wings for about 35 minutes.

The dish is not complete without the dipping sauce. Of course you can buy it, but it’s just as easy to make. Make it as sour or spicy as you like by adjusting the vinegar or sambal oelek.

Dipping sauce:

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp sambal oelek (or 1-2 red chillies diced)

In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water and rice vinegar to a boil. Reduce the heat a little and simmer for about 5 minutes or until it starts to get a little thick. Turn off the heat, add the fish sauce and sambal oelek (or chilies).