What is Shawarma? - In this article, you will learn what Shawarma is, how you can make it at home and how to cook it.
What is it?
Shawarma is one of the worlds most popular street foods, it is made from marinated strips of meat such as lamb, beef or chicken. These are stacked onto a rotating spit in front of a heat source for several hours. This very tasty food is a staple dish in middle eastern restaurants.
How is it made?
On a commercial scale, Shawarma is made by alternately stacking pieces of seasoned meat, strips of fat, Sometimes lemons, onions or tomatoes are added to these too.
How to make Shawarma Chicken at home.
Slice Chicken Thighs or Breast depending on your preference into 1cm slices
Mix 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil with 15 grams of Shawarma
Mix it all together and allow the chicken to marinate in the fridge for 12-24 hours
After removing from the fridge, remove most of the surface marinade leaving a light covering on the meat.
There are many ways to cook the shawarma. To get the authentic smoky flavours - cook the chicken on a BBQ until the chicken reaches 75C internal temperature. If you do not have access to a BBQ, you can pan fry / griddle pan / Oven Bake the Chicken until it reaches 75C Internal.
How to make Shawarma Lamb at home.
Take a butterflied leg of Lamb, or Lamb Leg steaks and tenderise them with a meat tenderiser, if you do not have one of these to hand, you can use a fork to prick the meat to let the marinade work in the meat.
Lay the meat in a bowl and season the meat heavily with the Shawarma Rub. Add enough olive oil or any neutral oil so that it coats all the surfaces of the meat and turns the Shawarma Rub to a paste. Cover the bowl and leave in the firidge overnight or for a minimum of 5 Hours.
1 Hour prior to cooking, remove the Lamb from the fridge and remove most of the surface marinade leaving a light covering on the meat.
For BBQ Cooking, Grill the lamb, fat side down over medium direct heat (350° to 450°F) with the lid closed, until nicely marked, 10 to 12 minutes. Turn the lamb over and grill for 5 minutes more.Then move the lamb over indirect medium heat and grill, fat side up, with the lid closed, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the lamb registers 125° to 130°F for medium rare, 20 to 30 minutes more. Remove from the grill and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving.
How to make Shawarma Beef at home.
To make Beef shawarma, take a 1kg lean cut such as bavette steak - slice this very thinly (try freezing for 1 hour before slicing to help slice thinly).
Take the Shawarma seasoning, add 1 tablespoon of seasoning to 50ml of olive oil and 50ml of white wine vinegar, complete with 15ml lemon juice. Combine and leave for 2 hours.
Cook on a direct heat on the BBQ or in a skillet for around 10 minutes.