How to marinate lamb and cook a delicious and juicy shish kebab? TOP 4 recipes with photos. Culinary secrets and tips. Video recipes.
One of the most juicy, tender, fragrant and delicious types of kebab is mutton kebab, for sure it is familiar to many firsthand. They learned to cook shashlik back in ancient times, as soon as they learned how to make fire. Since then, the dish has been improved, but we can say with confidence that shish kebab is the oldest food. When cooked correctly, grilled lamb skewers will turn out incredibly juicy, which will be impossible to compare with any other type of meat. In this article, we will learn in detail how to choose lamb for barbecue, how to marinate and cook it over charcoal so that the barbecue is juicy and soft.
Secrets of cooking lamb kebab
- A very tender kebab, and without a specific lamb smell, will be made from the meat of a young animal up to 2 months old. Such a shish kebab will turn out only from February to April, tk. at this time the lambs are born.
- At other times of the year, use good chilled adult lamb meat for barbecue, which should not contain more than 15% fat. Do not use frozen meat.
- The more fat on the meat, the stronger the specific smell and taste of mutton. But you cannot completely abandon fat, otherwise the meat will be dry.
- The fat should be white or milky. If it is yellow, then the animal was old.
- Choose lamb with an even red color (not pink or burgundy). The dark shade of the meat indicates that the animal was old.
- The meat should not be sticky, slippery, and free of blood. When you press on the meat with your finger, the fossa should flatten out quickly without leaving a dent.
- Good meat smells good, with sweetish notes.
- A delicious kebab will be obtained from the backbone, loin, tenderloin, hind leg, neck, shoulder blade, ham.
- For lovers of a specific lamb flavor, additionally use a fat tail, which is strung between the meat pieces on a skewer.
- Before cooking, peel the lamb from films and tendons.
- Cut the flesh into equal cubes with 4 cm sides. If using ribs, leave the bones on the meat.
- Pre-marinate the meat in marinade: onion, wine, vegetable, tomato, kefir, lemon, mineral water, soy sauce …
- Keep the young meat in the marinade for 2-4 hours, leave the old meat overnight in a cool place.
- Use glass or ceramic utensils for the marinade. Oxidation can occur in a metal container, which can lead to poisoning.
- String the meat on skewers or place on the wire rack. Place the pieces at a small distance from each other so that they are evenly fried on all sides.
- Coals made from birch, cherry or lime wood are most suitable for lamb shish kebab. You can also buy ready-made coals or burn them yourself in a fire. The main thing is to heat them completely before frying the meat.
- Place the meat on the grill when the coals are covered with white ash and an even reddish heat over the entire surface.
- Do not start cooking the kebab until the open flame goes out. If an open flame flares up during roasting, sprinkle a little water or wine over it to extinguish.
- Lamb shish kebab is prepared for about 15-20 minutes. At the same time, turn the skewers regularly, about every 2-3 minutes.
- To check the readiness of the kebab, cut the meat with a knife. A clear juice will emerge from fried meat, while half-baked meat will produce a reddish liquid. Then hold the kebab over the coals and check the readiness again.
See also how to fry lamb ribs in a skillet.
Delicious lamb kebab with onions
An amazingly juicy and tasty kebab is obtained in the so-called dry marinade without liquid, where only onions and spices are used. The main thing is to cook a dish of young lamb meat.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 115 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 4 hours 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Lamb meat - 2 kg
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Bulb onions - 4-5 pcs.
- Salt to taste
Cooking lamb kebab with onions:
- Wash the lamb, dry it, remove the film, cut the veins and cut into 3-4 cm portions.
- Peel the onion, wash and cut into thin rings. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and stir so that it lets in a large amount of juice in which the meat will marinate.
- Send the chopped onion to the meat and mix everything well. Cover the container with cling film and refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Place a grate over the hot coals and grease it with vegetable oil. Put pieces of lamb on it, and remove the onion, otherwise it will burn and taste bitter.
- Grill the kebab, turning occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes.
Marinated lamb skewers in lemon juice
Lamb meat allows you to cook delicate and tasty dishes from it, for example, like this kebab with a minimum of spices, but in a lemon marinade, which gives a light piquant sourness.
Ingredients:
- Lamb - 1, 8 kg
- Bulb onions - 2 pcs.
- Lemon juice - 50 ml
- Vegetable oil - 50 ml
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
Cooking marinated lamb skewers in lemon juice:
- Peel the meat and cut into pieces.
- Peel the onions, wash and cut into pieces.
- Pour oil and lemon juice into a saucepan for marinating meat, add pepper and salt and stir.
- Add meat to the marinade, stir and leave to marinate for 2, 5 hours.
- String the pieces of meat onto skewers and place them over the hot coals.
- Grill the lamb skewers until tender, turning the meat occasionally.
Soft lamb shish kebab in honey-vinegar sauce
An incredibly tasty and soft lamb kebab is not at all difficult to make if the meat is marinated in honey-vinegar sauce, and thanks to spices and herbs, it turns out to be fragrant. The main thing is to follow the recipe and not overdo it with proportions.
Ingredients:
- Lamb - 700 g
- White balsamic vinegar - 1/4 cup
- Honey - 1/4 tbsp.
- Olive oil - 1/4 tbsp.
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
- Dried cumin - 2 tsp
- Dried mint - 1 tsp
- Granulated onions - 1 tsp
Cooking soft lamb shish kebab in honey-vinegar sauce:
- Cut the meat into cubes with sides 2-2.5 cm.
- In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade: oil, honey, vinegar, cumin, mint, salt and granulated onions.
- Dip pieces of meat into the marinade and mix everything.
- Leave the lamb to marinate for 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Place pieces of marinated lamb on skewers.
- Heat the charcoal grill and grill the lamb kebabs for 3 minutes on each side until cooked.
Juicy lamb shish kebab in red wine
Lamb and red wine are classics of Caucasian cuisine. And if you marinate the meat in wine, you get an insanely delicious barbecue. Serve it on the table with a lot of greens, which you can choose to your taste.
Ingredients:
- Lamb - 1 kg
- Onions - 5 pcs.
- Dry red wine - 200 ml
- Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper - a pinch
Cooking juicy lamb shish kebab in red wine:
- Cut the tendon film out of the lamb, cut the meat into walnut-sized pieces, season with salt and pepper.
- Peel the onions, wash, cut into rings and mix with the meat.
- Add oil and wine to the lamb. Stir and marinate for 45 minutes.
- Pickled meat, put on a skewer and send to the coals.
- Roast the meat for about 15 minutes, turning and sprinkling with wine.
