Nothing else marks summer as good as grilling delicious kebabs. The aroma of the delicious ingredients sizzling over the fiery grill is truly tantalizing. The best thing is, kebabs are sure to be successfully cooked from any ingredients, whether it's steak, chicken, pork, lamb or even no meat at all. Check out Step 1 below to start learning the simple and delicious art of installing!
Step
Part 1 of 2: Preparing the Ingredients for Baking
Step 1. Choose a kebab recipe or choose your own ingredients
Usually kebabs contain meat and/or vegetables, sometimes seafood, fruit and other ingredients are also used. Choose the ingredients you want – there's nothing "wrong" here. Popular choices for meat kebabs are chicken, steak, pork, sausage, lamb, shrimp and fish; the vegetables are onions, mushrooms, red or green chilies, courgettes, and tomatoes; the fruit is pineapple, peach or apple.
-
Although any combination of the ingredients above can be used, one particular kebab recipe can also be tried. Many traditional kebab recipes use lamb as the main meat. Below are some traditional recipes and their main ingredients.
Sheekh Kebab - ground lamb seasoned with coriander and mint and cooked in a tandoor (traditional Indian oven)
Step 2. If using a recipe that contains meat, you can first soak it in the spices
If you plan to grill the meat, you can prepare the marinade first, although it's not really necessary. Marinating the meat in the marinade before grilling will give the meat a flavor of spices, resulting in a new combination of flavors that would be impossible without marinating. Usually, for marinating meat, the meat is placed in an airtight container (such as a sealed plastic bag), with at least an oil and acid (such as vegetable oil and lemon juice). Usually additional herbs and spices are added to the base solution to produce a more complex taste.
-
For example, these are the ingredients for a perfect teriyaki marinade for meat, chicken and more:
- Vegetable oil
- Soy sauce
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Pepper
- Worcestershire sauce (English soy sauce)
Step 3. Soak skewers for kebabs in a bowl of water
For grilling kebabs, you have two choices on the skewer – metal or wood/bamboo. Metal kebab skewers are sturdier and more durable, but more expensive, wooden ones are cheaper and easier to use. If you choose wooden or bamboo skewers, soak the skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling. This will keep the skewers moist while baking to prevent fires.
Step 4. Cut the ingredients into small pieces
Place the ingredients on a cutting board and use a sharp kitchen knife to make cubes with sides measuring about 2.5 cm. Of course, not all ingredients can be cut like that – for example, large chili peppers will be shaped into squares instead of cubes. The most important thing is to cut the ingredients so they look more or less the same size.
-
If you're using meat and you haven't soaked it in seasoning, you can now coat it with a combination of seasoning powder to give the outer layer of the meat a richer flavour. To coat the meat, just mix all the spices and coat the meat with it. Here's an example of an all-purpose paprika spice that's perfect for steaks:
- Paprika
- Salt
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Black pepper
- Thyme
- Oregano
Step 5. Pierce the ingredients with a skewer
Now that the ingredients are ready to your liking, it's time to use the skewers! Use a sharp skewer to pierce each piece of meat or vegetable and slide it all the way to the end, building up a "stack" of ingredients. Usually kebabs are made alternating meat with pieces of fruit or vegetables, this produces a contrasting delicious taste. Of course vegetarians can replace meat with other. Once you've poked all the ingredients, you're ready to bake!
Make a little space between each skewer so that each kebab can be cooked evenly throughout
Part 2 of 2: Baking
Step 1. Heat the grill over medium heat
To get a delicious "burnt" part of your kebab, it's important that the grill is hot before placing the kebab on it. For a gas grill it's easy – set the grill heat to medium, and let it heat up. For a charcoal grill, it's a little more complicated – turn the charcoal on and let it burn high until the heat is reduced and the charcoal is glowing orange. This will take 30 minutes or so.
In general, for 28 grams of meat, you need approximately 30 charcoal briquettes
Step 2. Place the kebabs on the grill surface
If your grill is hot, you should immediately start hearing a hissing sound. When you place the kebabs on the grill, space them out so that they cook evenly.
To prevent the kebabs from sticking to the grill, it's a good idea to grease the grill surface with vegetable or olive oil directly before placing the kebabs. Use a toaster brush to be safe – don't try to smear a hot grill with paper towels or similar tools
Step 3. Flip the kebabs during grilling so that each side is cooked through
Make sure each side of the kebab touches the surface of the grill – not only will this ensure the kebab is cooked through, but it will also give the meat (if you're using meat) a crispy outside. Generally kebabs take about 10-15 minutes to cook, so about 2.5-3.75 minutes for each of the 4 sides.
For vegetarian kebabs, and you don't have to worry about meat, flip the kebab as desired to get vegetables and fruit that are brown or black on the surface and soft in texture
Step 4. Check the meat is cooked
Remove one kebab from the grill. If using meat, cut the meat to see if it's done. The classic ripe sign is a clear liquid, the inside is not pink, easy to cut. If the meat is very pink inside, has red liquid, or is difficult to cut, it will need to cook a few more minutes.
-
For information on how to tell if meat is cooked or not, see:
- How to Test a Steak for Cooking Using Your Fingers
- How to test if the chicken is cooked
- How to Know Undercooked Food
Step 5. Remove the kebabs from the grill when they are done
Once the ingredients are cooked, remove the kebab from the grill and place it on a clean plate. Don't use the plate you put undercooked kebabs on, especially if you're using meat – germs from raw meat can contaminate cooked food, and can cause serious illness.
Step 6. Serve alone or with an extra dish
Safe! Your kebab is ready to eat with or without a skewer. Most kebabs are delicious eaten on their own, but for a full meal, you can serve it with dishes that match the ingredients in the kebab.
- For a traditional kebab recipe, seasoned rice and/or flatbread can complement. This basic food has hundreds of variations in each region. For example, chelow kebabs are traditionally served with rice mixed with raw egg yolk.
- Kebab ingredients can also be used in other dishes. For example, the Doner kebab from Turkey is often served with pita bread and a salad like a sandwich.
Tips
- If you're cooking food that takes a different amount of time to cook, try skewering all the protein on one skewer and the vegetables on another. For example, if you cook the meat for 10 minutes, the tomatoes will need only 2 or 3 minutes, place them on a different skewer. This will allow each ingredient to cook properly, not overcooked or undercooked.
- If you're using wooden skewers, especially round ones, try using two skewers per kebab. This makes these sometimes-heavy kebabs more stable, and easy to flip when grilled.
- For added flavor, soak the ingredients in the sauce for about 30 minutes before baking. Popular marinades include teriyaki, sweet and sour, honey and mustard, or lemon and garlic. You can buy pre-made sauces at the store, or you can research online or in cookbooks to make your own sauces. You can also coat the skewered ingredients with the leftover sauce for a richer flavour.
