Shish Taouk
شيش طاووق·(sheesh tah-wook)
The Sunday Feast: Mezze & Mashewe
If you grew up in a quiet Ohio suburb, you already know the smell of a Lebanese Sunday afternoon—the intoxicating tang of garlic, lemon, and charring yogurt wafting from the backyard grill. When we try to recreate these memories as adults, we tend to overcomplicate things with fifteen-spice blends or by swapping traditional chicken breasts for thigh meat. But the secret to authentic Shish Taouk—the kind that makes you close your eyes and know you're home—is a strictly enforced simplicity. It’s a thick, unapologetic marinade of full-fat yogurt and garlic, given the respect of time, and the old-school grandmother's trick of wrapping the freshly grilled meat in pita to trap the steam and soak up the seasoned oils.
Before you start
Soak the wooden skewers.
If cooking with bamboo skewers, submerge them in water for 30 to 45 minutes to prevent them from incinerating on the grill.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken breasts2 1/2 lb
- plain full-fat yogurt3/4 cup
- lemon juice1/4 cup
- lemon zest1 tbsp
- olive oil1/4 cup
- garlic cloves10 med
- tomato paste2 tbsp
- apple cider vinegar1 tbsp
- kosher salt1 1/2 tsp
- white pepper1 tsp
- sweet paprika1 tsp
- ground ginger1/2 tsp
- dried oregano1/2 tsp
- Lebanese pita bread4 large
- toum1/2 cup
- Middle Eastern pickled cucumbers1 cup
- french fries2 cup
Method
- 01
Whisk the marinade ingredients together.
In a large, non-reactive bowl, whisk the yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, garlic paste, tomato paste, vinegar, salt, white pepper, paprika, ginger, and oregano until the tomato paste dissolves and the mixture turns a pale orange.
- 02
Massage the marinade into the chicken.
Add the cubed chicken to the bowl and use your hands to massage the marinade into the meat, ensuring every single crevice is heavily coated.
- 03
Refrigerate and wait.
Cover the bowl tightly and let it sit in the fridge for a minimum of four hours, though overnight is where the magic really happens.
- 04
Thread the skewers.
Pack five to six cubes onto each skewer so they just touch, but aren't squished too tightly together.
- 05
Grill the chicken.
Over a medium-high grill, cook the skewers for 5 to 7 minutes per side until you get dark char marks and an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Alternatively, broil 4 inches from the heat source for 6 to 8 minutes per side.
- 06
Build the pita tent.
The second the chicken comes off the heat, sandwich the hot skewers inside an open pita and let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The bread traps the steam, forcing juices back into the meat while soaking up the highly spiced garlic oils.
- 07
Assemble the sandwich.
Slide the meat off the skewer into a fresh pita, smear with a generous spoonful of toum, add salty pickles and hot french fries right into the sandwich, then roll it up tight.
Notes
Use the right yogurt.
Avoid the non-fat aisle. You need the fat from whole milk yogurt to protect the lean chicken breast from the high heat of the grill.
Respect the white pepper.
Do not substitute with black pepper. White pepper provides the distinct, slightly earthy background heat that separates a true Lebanese Taouk from generic grilled chicken.
Shortcut the toum.
If you don't have the time to whip up a batch of traditional Lebanese garlic paste, you can mimic the experience by mixing a half-cup of high-quality mayonnaise with four cloves of finely crushed raw garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice.
From Cook Lebanese in America.