I have to admit something. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to certain things and Uzbek food happens to be one of them. See, some of my friends try to tell me that they make great kabobs and then they go into great detail telling me how they marinate it in vinegar (eek!) and that they use pork (oy!). I grit my teeth and smile and since “sounds nice”. But to me, that’s just meat on a stick. Actually, anything that deviates from the shashlik I grew up with is just meat on a stick. The recipe that follows is a little unusual, but trust me, if you make it this way, you’ll never call anything else “shish-kabob”. Actually, my friends who have tasted this divine food, are still talking about it longingly, nine years later. We don’t do this often because as you can see, it’s very labor intensive. But it’s SO GOOD AND SO WORTH IT!
But first things first. The ingredients. Shish-kabob (shashlik) is made mostly from lamb and sometimes from calf liver. I can’t remember ever eating chicken shish-kabobs, but I’m sure there are some varieties. Also, meat can be ground and then shaped around the skewer, but it has a different name then (I forgot what it is). Then you need spices (salt, cumin, coriander) and seltzer water.
1. You start with a leg of lamb in a quantity that depends on how many people you’ll feed (I’d recommend at least a pound per person). Cut up the meat and the fat into bite-sized pieces. Don’t forget the fat. It’s delicious. Trust me.
2. Marinate the meat and the fat with the spices and a bottle of seltzer water. Never use anything sour like vinegar or wine when marinating lamb (at lest for shish-kabobs) since it will make the meat tough. Be sure to turn the meat all around to make sure it’s evenly marinated. It’s best to marinate at least 8 hours, but a full 24 hours is better.
3. You need a special grill called mangal (mahn-gahl). You can use your regular charcoal grill, but it will take longer because a regular grill isn’t as large. Cook till it’s done.
4. Serve with a tomato salad or with vinegared onions (soak onions in vinegar for a few hours and sprinkle with some paprika).
Skewers
Close-up of shashlik. See that fat? YUM!
Mangal emty
Shish-kabobs on Mangal
Served with onions
So, unless your shish-kabobs are like these, though tasty it might be, it’s just meat on a stick to me. 
7 responses so far ↓
yulinka // May 26, 2009 at 10:46 pm |
I like pork kebabs! But, I agree, you need fatty lamb for the best kebob experience.
rulitos // June 15, 2009 at 2:13 pm |
Made this for some friends from Latvia and Russia. They loved it. You didn’t include measurements for the spices…I did one part coriander, one part cumin, one part salt. No Mangal, but smoked them with hickory wood. Let me know about the measurements you use please.
A // June 22, 2009 at 10:29 pm |
Hi,
I’m glad this worked out for you. I’m not sure about the measurements since the person who does it, does it all by feel/experience. And it all completely depends on the amount and quality of meat.
Aaron // July 3, 2009 at 11:25 pm |
You dont know what traditional shashlik is, lol dont use wine are you insane????!!!! Thats just one obvious deviation but you lack insight.
A // July 4, 2009 at 9:00 pm |
And you grew up in Uzbekistan? Eating this every weekend? From people who’ve been doing it for generations, from father to son? Sure, I’ll grant you that other regions have what they refer to as “shashlik”, doesn’t mean it’s Uzbek and doesn’t mean it’s made the way it was made where I grew up. Therefore to me, shashlik is only made the way I described. Anything else, to me, is meat on a stick. Doesn’t mean it’s bad or not tasty, just not authentic Uzbek shashlik that I grew up with.
Alex // October 10, 2009 at 2:25 pm |
Hi Anna, I was searching the web for authentic shashlik recipe and I stumbled upon your blog spot. Although I grew up in Eastern Europe (Lithuania), and we have grilled “Shashlik” every other weekend back in the days, the real Shashlik I tried only after a couple from Uzbekistan moved in to live with us here in the U.S. I completely agree with you, everything else is “just a meat on a stick”. Thank you for the great recipe with cool pictures and all! Now I would kindly ask you to gift us all with another authentic Uzbek recipe how to make Plov, real Uzbek Plov!
A // October 13, 2009 at 10:24 pm |
Thank you Alex. I’m glad you agree with me about “meat on a stick”.
I would *love* to blog about a real Uzbek Plov. Unfortunately, I don’t have a “kazan” and don’t know where to get one in the US. And as much as I try to make it in an enameled cast iron pot, it’s just not the same.