Shish Taouk is a Lebanese marinated chicken kebab served on pita bread with a garlicky sauce called toum. It is becoming popular in the US and is traditionally sold by street vendors and Lebanese restaurants. The marinade includes garlic, paprika, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, and other spices. The chicken is grilled on skewers and can be served on skewers or wrapped in pita bread with lettuce and tomato. Toum is a signature topping made with garlic, salt, egg whites, vegetable oil, and lemon juice.
Shish Taouk is a marinated Lebanese shish kebab often served on pita bread. Traditionally flavored with garlic, shish taouk is always made from chicken breasts and is usually served with a garlicky sauce, similar in texture to sour cream, called toum. Shish taouk is slowly becoming a popular dish in the United States.
Traditionally, shish taouk is sold by street vendors and available in many Lebanese restaurants. When sold by vendors, it is usually served without skewers and wrapped in pita bread with toum topping. When sold in restaurants, shish taouk remains on the skewers, again covered in toum. The skewers are usually placed on a bed of rice. Pita bread and salad are often included as sides.
While there are many variations in recipes for shish taouk marinade, it always results in a sweet and sour sweet and sour flavor. In addition to garlic, paprika, lemon juice, ketchup or tomato paste, olive oil and vinegar are usually added. The yogurt can be substituted for the olive oil and vinegar to increase the juiciness of the cooked chicken. Additionally, thyme is also a frequent ingredient, and turmeric is traditionally added for color. Cumin, allspice, oregano and sumac, a traditional Lebanese spice, can also be added.
Chicken breasts are diced and placed in the marinade, usually overnight. Then the cubes are placed on wooden or metal skewers alone or with mushrooms, peppers and sweet onions. If using wooden skewers, the ends should be wrapped in foil before placing on the grill or the skewers should be soaked in water for about half an hour before adding the chicken to avoid burning the wood. The shish taouk is then grilled, turning once during cooking.
The finished shish taouk can be served on skewers or wrapped in pita bread. If you serve the dish wrapped in pita bread, diced lettuce and tomato can be placed on top. Rice and fresh sliced tomatoes or garden salad complete this dish. No authentic shish taouk is complete, however, without toum’s signature atop.
Traditional toum is made by mixing fresh garlic with first salt, then egg whites, until the mixture is smooth. Vegetable oil is added gradually until the mixture resembles sour cream. Finally, lemon juice is added to taste. A simpler version of a garlic sauce can also be made with garlic, yogurt, cucumber, salt and pepper.
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