- Today, we are going to make shish tawook my way.
Shish means "skewer," tawook means "chicken."
So yes, we are essentially making chicken kabobs,
but with a special marinade that makes them
extra tender and absolutely delicious.
Let's do it.
(lively instrumental music)
Okay, the marinade for this shish tawook recipe
begins with yogurt.
So we're using Greek yogurt over here,
about 3/4 cup to a cup.
1/4 cup of lemon juice,
and a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil.
We're gonna whisk these together
to make the base of the marinade.
Next, we're gonna have some tomato paste.
Now, tomato paste is optional and some shish tawook recipes
don't use it but I think it kind of gives a little umami,
and a little bit of color to those chicken kabobs.
From here, garlic, I'm gonna use about eight garlic cloves.
So shish and tawook is an original dish
from the Ottoman Empire.
You know, food and culture are borrowed from one another,
and so shish tawook is essentially chicken kabobs
passed on among the Middle Eastern countries.
And the gift of a yogurt marinade, you guys, is this.
Yogurt has calcium and lactic acid,
which work to tenderize the meat,
as well as carry the flavors,
and infuse the meat with all sorts of goodness.
From here, we're not done adding flavor, you guys.
We're gonna go ahead and add one teaspoon of all spice.
Smells amazing.
One teaspoon of paprika, which will add depth and color.
Dried oregano.
I love ground nutmeg on chicken, it is so good.
Oh, we're not done, we are not done.
There's so much flavor here.
Ground ginger, cayenne pepper and cinnamon.
I don't care what order these go in,
but they all should be in here.
Go ahead and give this party a good whisk.
For our chicken, you can use chicken breast,
or chicken thighs, boneless, skinless.
I am going with thighs.
A good large pinch of kosher salt on both sides.
Chicken is well-seasoned.
We're gonna cut this chicken
essentially into smaller pieces.
Not too small though for chicken tawook.
I want some juicy chicken on that grill.
You know what I mean?
You see any extra fat you don't want,
you can just trim that as you go along.
All right, these go right in my marinade.
(gentle instrumental music)
Give everything a good toss.
All sorts of warm Middle Eastern spices
happening right here.
And if I were you, and I am you at this point in time,
I would cover this baby up,
and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
You can even do this overnight.
Chicken has been happily marinating for a couple hours.
It smells delicious.
If you are using bamboo or wood skewers like this,
you need to have soaked them
for half hour to an hour before using them.
Grab your skewer, thread your pieces of chicken in.
And if there are pieces that are too large, fold them over.
And now they fit better.
They also look really good once they're grilled, trust me.
So it's essentially a double poke,
but the chicken can handle it just fine, so no worries.
This is the shish part of the shish tawook.
This is the tawook part of the tawook.
Tawook, shish, shish, tawook, got it?
Beautiful, beautiful.
All right, we are ready.
We're gonna throw these on the grill over medium heat
for about 15 to 20 minutes,
turning them over every five to seven minutes or so.
While they're cooking,
we're gonna keep the grill closed,
that way the chicken cooks really well over medium heat.
Very nice and juicy.
It's gonna be epic.
(gentle instrumental music)
All right, these are looking great
thanks to my hubby who manned the grill.
Now, let's go do the finishing touches.
The shish tawook party, loaded with flavor.
I love to serve several salads with these,
so definitely check out all the salads.
Today, I just quickly put together
my Three-Ingredient Mediterranean Salad.
Tomato, cucumber, parsley, super easy.
And definitely check out my other
chicken kabob recipe if you like.
For a little tang and a pop of color, my preserved lemons.
I have a video for how to make preserved lemons.
And if you haven't tried it,
oh my gosh, you are in for a treat.
And that's it, grab the recipe for Shish Tawook
over on TheMediterraneanDish.com.
I will see you later, ciao.
Why can't I get my hand in a glove?
Even though the glove is big,
and my hand won't go in the glove.
I don't know why.
Brand new shiny pair of gloves.