How to make shashlik tasty and original

Shish kebab- a dish from Georgian cuisine, which was also enjoyed by other countries. Today, kebab is made from a variety of products, and there are a lot of recipes for marinating meat. Kebabs are most often associated with outings into nature in the company of family or friends, or as a dish for a holiday table.

What can you make shish kebab from?

Initially, kebabs were made only from sheep meat, but many people do not like this dish. Then they started preparing pork kebabs, beef, chicken. Many people love grilled fish, but most often these are girls on diets or simply watching their figure. Salmon, trout, sea bass, sea bream and any river fish are perfect for this.

A very tasty kebab is made from meat sausages - kupat. They use lamb and beef meat mixed with herbs, seasonings and garlic. You can also prepare lula kebab.

Shish kebab can be prepared from vegetables. It can be zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers.

For seafood lovers, there are also delicious options for kebab from shrimp, mussels and squid.

Some people like fruits grilled or skewered: apples, pears, bananas, pineapples and kiwis.

The best meat for barbecue

What meat to choose for barbecue is a personal matter. The main thing is that it should be fresh, elastic, dense, without any liquid, mucus, or blood. The fresh product should be bright red in color, slightly moist, but should not stick to your hands.

Another important factor when choosing meat is the age of the animal. For barbecue, it is better to take the meat of a young animal, it is softer and tastier. This can be recognized by the color of the piece of meat: pink pork, red lamb with white layers, red beef. An old animal differs from a young one in having a darker shade of meat.

Delicious lamb shish kebab is obtained from lambs under one year of age. Best parts: ribs, loin, tenderloin and hind leg tenderloin.

Pork should not be very fatty, the best option is neck, tenderloin, loin, ribs, ham.

Beef meat needs to be marinated for a very long time to make it tender and tasty. The best parts are the fillet, brisket and inside of the hind leg.

Any part of the chicken is suitable for chicken kebab: wings, breast, legs, thighs. Chicken meat can be replaced turkey.

How to marinate meat for barbecue

In the distant, distant years, meat was marinated exclusively in vinegar, which can often be found today in purchased already marinated meat. Today you can marinate meat in anything; mineral water is used for marinades, beer, coffee, tea, mayonnaise, sour cream, soy sauce, mustard, natural yoghurts, pomegranate juice, kiwi, oranges, in general, everything you can.

The main condition for marinating is the choice of dishes. The ideal option is enamel saucepans, but in no case aluminum cookware.

Marinating time depends on the meat, food and your personal time. The fresher and younger the meat, the faster it will marinate. For fish, 40-50 minutes is enough, for chicken – at least half an hour. The meat is marinated from a couple of hours to a day. The larger the pieces, the longer it will take. It is best to place marinated meat in the refrigerator or a cool place. Many people recommend salting the meat immediately before frying, so it will be more juicy than if you pour salt into it. marinade.

Kebab recipes

The simplest recipe

What is needed:

• a kilogram of any meat, it can be lamb, pork or beef;
• ground black pepper, salt;
• 4-5 large onions.

How to cook:

1. Grate the bulbs on a fine grater or grind with a blender.
2. Cut the meat into pieces, mix with pepper and onion mixture.
3. Leave for a couple of hours, then remove the onion and fry until tender.

Onion recipe

What is needed:

• liter of 2.5% kefir;
• 1.5 kg of any meat, you can even chicken;
• kilogram of onions;
• spices.

How to do:

1. Cut the onions into cubes and mix with spices.
2. Grate the meat with onions, then pour in kefir.
3. Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
4. If you use chicken, then you need a couple of times less onion, and marinate the meat for no more than an hour.

Tomato recipe

What you will need:

• kilogram of tomatoes;
• half a kilo of onion;
• 1.5 kg of fish fillet or any meat;
• ground pepper

How to do:

1. Divide the tomatoes into quarters, cut the onions into half rings.
2. Mix vegetables with ground pepper and meat.
3. Fish fillets are marinated for no more than 60 minutes, and meat for at least 4 hours.

Beer kebab

What is needed:

• 1.5 liters of live draft beer;
• salt, spices;
• kilogram of meat.

How to cook:

1. Cut the meat into pieces, rub with salt and pepper.
2. Pour beer over everything and marinate for at least a couple of hours.

Beer marinade is ideal for any meat, especially lamb, as it removes odors and makes the meat more juicy and soft. The foamy drink can easily be replaced with kvass.

Coffee meat

What you will need:

• a couple of kilograms of pork;
• a liter of hot real coffee;
• 4 onions;
• spices;
• olive oil.

How to cook:

1. Cut the meat into pieces, rub with spices.
2. Add onion rings and olive oil.
3. Pour hot coffee over everything and leave until cool.
4. Then put it in the refrigerator for 6 hours.

Mineral water meat

What you will need:

• a kilogram of any meat, even chicken;
• spices;
• glass mineral water;
• 1-2 onions.

How to do:

1. Mix pieces of meat with onion rings and spices.
2. Pour mineral water over everything, mix and leave for 4 hours.

Marinade with kiwi

What is needed:

• a kilogram of any meat except chicken;
• a couple of kiwis;
• spices;
• bulb.

How to do:

1. Cut the meat into pieces, mix with salt and spices.
2. Add onion rings and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
3. 30 minutes before cooking the meat, add finely chopped kiwi.

How to grill kebab

When the meat has already been prepared and marinated, you can begin preparing the grill and fire. It is better to choose birch, cherry, plum or apple wood for the fire. Although now many people use ready-made purchased coal, which does not require so much fiddling with. When starting a fire, it's best to forget about fire starters and gasoline unless you want the taste and aroma of chemicals in the meat. It is best to use small pieces of wood or paper.

When the coals are ready, you can start cooking the meat. It is best to take flat skewers or a special grill. It is advisable to place small pieces on the edges of the skewer, and larger pieces in the middle for better roasting. Don't forget to leave empty space between the pieces. Wooden skewers for mushrooms or shrimp should be soaked in water for a while before use so that they do not burn during cooking.

The height of the skewers above the coals is at least 10 cm and no more than 15. To prevent the coals from igniting, they can be sprinkled with salt. During cooking, you can pour marinade over the meat, except for red wine - it will turn any meat to stone.

Cooking time for meat is from 20 to 40 minutes. During this time, you need to frequently turn the grill with meat or skewers so that the kebab does not burn. Readiness can be determined by cutting a piece of meat; when the kebab is ready, clear liquid should ooze from it.

Vegetables and mushrooms are cooked separately from meat, so as not to end up with embers instead of a delicious dinner. You can also cook shish kebab in the oven or in special electric kebab makers.

What to serve with barbecue

What can you most often see on holiday tables besides fried meat? Potatoes under a fur coat, fatty mayonnaise salads, in general everything is very fatty and heavy. After such a menu, it will be very long and difficult for the stomach to digest everything. So, it’s better to leave all the mayonnaise Olivier and under the fur coat for another occasion, and prepare something light for the meat.

• Alcohol – perfect for delicious fried meat dry red wine. If there are no wine lovers among the guests, then good beer is perfect in the summer heat, and high-quality beer in the cold season cognac in small quantities.
• Sauces– a must for any meat. It can be spicy sauces, teriyaki, cheese, tartar, just ketchup or mayonnaise, it is better if there are several different options on the table. Sauces can be replaced with a large baked tomato, for example, the “Bull's Heart” variety. It will turn out juicy, and you can dip shish kebab in it.
• Vegetables - during the season, it is best to take fresh vegetables and cut them: tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers. Grilled vegetables are also good: zucchini, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, small onions. Fresh herbs are required for vegetables: dill, parsley, cilantro, green onions, tarragon. Lightly pickled onions or purple lettuce can be served with the meat. You can cook corn in foil over coals, which can also be served with meat. Vegetables can be lightly marinated, or simply sprinkled with salt and pepper and fried over coals. In addition to vegetables, you can cook champignons on coals by pre-marinating them.
• Light salads are ideal, this can be a simple summer salad of chopped tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers with the addition of fresh herbs and dressed with olive oil. Light Korean salads, Korean carrots. Lecho, summer caviar made from peppers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini or spicy beet caviar. There can also be vegetable salads seasoned with butter or low-fat sour cream.
• Pickled tomatoes, cucumbers, sauerkraut, pickled peppers, garlic.
• You can serve corn bread, or replace it with fresh and soft pita bread.