Shashlik

Meat Dishes | Caucasian

Shashlik (or shashlyk) is small pieces of meat cooked over an open fire. Unlike char-grill and barbecue, slabs of meat for shashlik are threaded on skewers, which are placed horizontally over the fire (coals) and turned manually. Shashlik was originally made of finely chopped lamb, skewered and fried on charcoal. Later the name "shashlik" in Russian covered the dishes from pork, poultry, fish and vegetables cooked in the same way. Shashlik came to Russia apparently from the cuisine of Astrakhan and Crimean Tatars. Today it is known almost throughout the country, but it is especially popular in the southern regions (for example, in the republics of the Caucasus). A public catering establishment which specializes in the preparation of shashlik is called "Shashlik House".

Ingredients

Pork breast ribs – 3 kg
onion and salt – to taste
red wine vinegar (optionally) – 200 ml

Preparation method (receipt)

Cut the brisket pork into equal cubes (each must have a rib and a little fat). If wished, make a marinade from a good wine vinegar and onion sliced into semi-circles, salt and black pepper. Place the meat in the marinade and cover. Leave for 1-6 hours. After that, thread meat so that it is located along the skewer, without hanging from it. The slabs of meat on each skewer should be of the same size and quality to be fried evenly. Kindle the coals in the mangal (barbecue): they must be covered with white ashes. Lay the skewers with meat at a distance of 10-15 cm from the coals and fry not forgetting to turn them often! Fifteen minutes is quite enough to thoroughly fry fresh meat, since it will become charred if frying longer. Put the sliced onion into a large bowl, take a piece of thin lavash (flatbread) and use it to remove the hot shashlik from the skewers; strew with onions: as a result, the onion will absorb the meat juice, slightly "fry" and become a separate snack.

pork breast ribs bulb onion