Author's street food is a fashionable note in modern gastronomic life. Food that is usually sold on the street and has nothing individual about it, begins to play with fresh colors in the hands of famous chefs. This is also a challenge for them. It would seem, what new can be said about shawarma? But it’s possible, you just need to give the word to a professional.
Today our expert is Vladimir Mukhin, chef of the famous White Rabbit restaurant.
Vladimir Mukhin is one of the few Russian chefs who are no less famous abroad than in Russia. The White Rabbit restaurant he heads took 23rd place in the ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the world in 2015. Today he is a brand chef of a dozen more restaurants in Moscow and Sochi, travels a lot, tours and never stops learning new things.
“Shawarma is something you always want, but eating it is scary. Because it is not clear who prepared it, with what hands and from what chicken. While developing the menu before opening the Tsypa-Tsypa restaurant on the Danilovsky market, I thoroughly studied the issue: in a tent near the metro you can easily run into chicken, which, it will be said, died a natural death. Plus, cheap chickens are usually pumped up with hormones, like bodybuilders. In general, it’s kind of scary to eat. So we decided for ourselves that our shawarma should be: a) healthy b) interesting c) with such chicken that even children can be fed with it. This turned out to be a difficult task: I had to inspect 20 potential suppliers until, on a farm near Tula, I found chickens of the condition we needed, which were fed without any growth stimulants. And since the chicken is really tasty, then everything else should correspond to it: the lavash is baked to order at a Moscow bakery, ours is soft, without the “cardboard” that is often felt in factory-made lavashes. We make our own mayonnaise. Those who try shawarma for the first time are surprised: “It’s not spicy at all!” Why do we need an explosion of spices?! We don’t need to mask anything; on the contrary, we want to make the taste of fried chicken more voluminous. That’s why we prepare mayonnaise with yogurt and replace ketchup with pure tomatoes. And homemade adjika gives the spice.”
Signature shawarma “Tsypa-Tsypa”
quantity: 1 shawarma, level: 1, calories: 220, preparation: 20 min (+ time to prepare mayonnaise), cooking: 20 min
Ingredients:
150 g chicken thigh fillet
vegetable oil for frying
40 g young cabbage
1 tomato
100 g homemade mayonnaise
2 tbsp. l. pureed tomatoes in their own juice
1 fresh cucumber
1 pickled cucumber
1 thin Armenian lavash
any greens (parsley, dill) to taste
for the chicken marinade:
25 ml odorless vegetable oil
1 tsp. red Abkhaz adjika
1 clove of garlic
salt pepper
for mayonnaise:
125 ml natural yogurt
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp. l. mustard
1 tbsp. l. Sahara
125 ml vegetable oil
1 tbsp. l. freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt pepper
Preparation:
1. Prepare mayonnaise: pour egg yolks into a blender bowl, add mustard, sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper. Beat at low speed, adding half the oil in a thin stream. Then add yogurt and lemon juice. Beat until the mixture becomes thick and smooth. Continue whisking, adding the remaining vegetable oil in a thin stream, until the mixture becomes slightly viscous. Refrigerate for at least 40 minutes.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade (crush the garlic), coat the chicken thoroughly with it and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
3. Fry the chicken in vegetable oil until cooked. Then remove the skin from the thighs and cut the flesh into long strips.
It would seem that what could be simpler than shawarma? However, the simpler a dish seems to us, the more interesting details it contains, thanks to which we love it. To find out the recipe for real and tasty shawarma, we went to the Royal Kebab & Salads cafe on Rakovskaya Street, 36. The chef of the establishment is a real Syrian who definitely knows a lot about this dish.
East is a delicate matter. But an even more refined thing is the cuisine of the East. You can hardly figure out this culinary culture alone. That is why we asked to be “apprentices” to chef Ihab Jahjah. From the first minutes of communication, it became clear that our maestro was simply in love with his profession. He can talk about cooking techniques for hours. And since we came to visit on his birthday, he even revealed the secret recipes for his sauces, which make his signature shawarma unforgettable.
Ingredients: pita bread, chicken meat, tomatoes, pickles, garlic sauce and red hot sauce, various spices
Before we approach the skewer on which the prepared meat is already spinning, the chef tells us that they bake the pita bread themselves. They also pickle fresh cucumbers themselves. The hardest part is making the signature sauce. Ihab Jahjah uses bell pepper, tomato, salt, sugar and olive oil to prepare it. Basil and oregano are always added to the seasoning sauce. On average, it takes 40 minutes to prepare the sauce.
Another signature sauce of Ihab is spicy. It's made with fresh chilies and seven herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, pepper, cumin, cilantro and fresh basil). The finished mixture is added to tomato paste from fresh tomatoes and boiled until it boils.
There are also subtleties in the meat that is added to shawarma.
- The point is that you cannot use the very top layer of meat. It is cut off and shawarma is not made from it, because the meat is dry. But the next layer is just right for our shawarma!- says Ihab Jahjah.
The same applies to the meat that is located at the base of the skewer. It doesn’t go well with the quality shawarma that Royal Kebab & Salads is famous for.
- Our dish fully complies with the rules of halal cuisine,- concludes the chef.
The meat is cut strictly from top to bottom from start to finish in a very thin layer. Then the pieces of meat are cut into smaller pieces.
By the way, it is important to cut the pita bread correctly. Even the sharpest knife, if you simply place the pita bread on the countertop, will cut crookedly. To cut, the chef “rolls” the pita bread, and only then cuts it to the required length.
An important point: the meat is skewered after it has acquired its taste in a special marinade. The meat is marinated all night. The marinade is also our chef's signature recipe. The main highlight of our marinade is a little cinnamon, which gives an excellent aroma to the meat. And instead of kefir, Ihab adds yogurt to it. As for spices, cardamom and coriander will come in handy.
When the filling, sauces, meat and pita bread are ready, everything is packaged in our usual form and sent to the grill. You can add anything to the composition of shawarma. For example, even cheese. After a minute, the shawarma is ready to eat.
Since today is Ihab Jahjah’s birthday, he invites you to visit “Royal Kebab & Salads”. Today, pleasant gifts await guests there, and a guest DJ will complement the atmosphere.
This is probably one of the most delicious snacks. Making shawarma is very easy at home. Buy the products according to the list and repeat after me! Everything is very simple and quite fast.
Description of preparation:
Many people ask the question “how to cook shawarma according to the classic recipe?” I will be happy to share the recipe and tell you how to quickly and deliciously prepare your favorite delicacy. You will need fresh or canned cucumber, depending on the season. Shall we begin?
Ingredients:
- Lavash – 1 piece
- Tomato – 0.5 pieces
- Cucumber – 0.5 pieces
- Cabbage - 4-5 tbsp. spoons
- Ketchup - 2 tbsp. spoons
- Mayonnaise - 2 tbsp. spoons
- Salt, ground black pepper - 1-2 pinches
- Chicken fillet – 150 grams
- Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. spoons ((for frying chicken fillet))
Number of servings: 2
Order from Utkonos, it’s profitable for beginners!
How to cook “Shaurma (classic recipe)”
Prepare your food. Wash meat and vegetables. Let's get started.
Chop the cabbage finely. Add some salt.
Cut the tomato into slices and the cucumber into strips.
For the sauce, mix mayonnaise with ketchup and a pinch of black pepper.
Salt and pepper the chicken fillet and fry over medium heat under the lid on both sides until cooked. Remove from heat.
Spread the pita bread on your work table. Spread the center generously with sauce. Distribute cabbage, tomato, cucumber.
Cut the finished chicken, half a piece is used for one shawarma. Drizzle a little sauce on top.
Wrap it in an envelope so that the sides are closed. Try to roll the shawarma tightly and place it in a clean and dry frying pan (if you have a grill, this will be the best solution) for a few minutes until browned on both sides.
Shawarma is ready! Enjoy your meal!
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