Shishlik or shashlik are skewers of meat chunks that come originally from Turkey, but spread all over the Balkan and Russia.

The traditional preparation of shishlik is by marinating the meat in an acidic marinade that includes vinegar or sour fruit juice, such as lemon. This helps tenderizing the meat.

Different types of shishlik (or shish kebab) are usually a part of Israel’s Independence Day BBQ spread.

This recipe is very easy to follow, but requires a good steak that can be grilled shortly for good results.

Sirloin shishlik with dried apricot

Recipe by Vered GuttmanCourse: Main courseCuisine: Israeli, Turkish, BalkanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Marinating time

hours

Shishlik are skewers of meat chunks that come originally from Turkey, but spread all over the Balkan and Russia.
The marinade contains grated onion to make the meat extra tender and fruit or wine vinegar with a bit tartness and flavor.
If you can get Uzbeki dried apricot, use them. Otherwise, any type of dried apricot or prunes would work.

INGREDIENTS

1½ lb. sirloin steak, about 1½ inch thick
1 yellow onion, grated
¼ cut red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
½ Serrano pepper, chopped (or to taste, optional)
1½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
For the skewers
12 apricots (see note above)
½ yellow onion, cut to m1 inch cubes

DIRECTIONS

If you’re using wooden skewers, soak them in water for the duration of the preparation.
Cut steak into 1 – 1½ inch cubes.
In a bowl mix together onion, vinegar, oil, honey, Serrano (if using,) salt and oregano. Add steak, mix and make sure all the meat is covered with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and let meat marinate for 4 hours and up to 8 hours.
Wipe marinade off of the steak. Skewer steak, apricot and onion alternately on skewers.
Turn on the grill on medium-high heat. If you’re using a heavy grill pan, preheat it for a few minutes on medium to medium-high heat.
Grease the grates of the grill or the grill pan and grill the skewers for about 4 minutes per side, for a total of 8 minutes (it depends on the thickness of the steak cubes and how done you want it to be.)
Serve immediately.