Shish taouk — garlic and lemon chicken thigh skewers with vermicelli rice and tahini
Levantine chicken skewers: boneless thighs massaged with a thick marinade of garlic, lemon, tomato purée, paprika and baharat, grilled until opaque and juicy, then served over rice with golden vermicelli, drizzled with tahini sauce and topped with red onion, sumac and parsley.
Method
- The day before or in the morning (10 minutes), make the marinade as in the main recipe: 30 g oil, 30 g lemon juice, vinegar, 4 grated garlic cloves, tomato purée, paprika, baharat, cinnamon, 4.5 g salt and pepper. Reserve 2 tbsp in a small bowl in the fridge, massage the thigh pieces in the rest for 1 minute, cover with cling film and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Forgotten to marinate? Allow 20 minutes at room temperature while the rice cooks: thigh meat stays juicy, though the flavour will be less deep.
- In the evening, minute 0: rinse the rice until the water runs clear and drain. In the 18 cm saucepan, brown the vermicelli in 15 g oil over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes until hazelnut brown. Add the rice, stir for 1 minute, pour in 340 g hot water with the crumbled half stock cube (or 3 g salt), bring to the boil, cover and cook over the lowest heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered until serving.
- While the rice cooks, whisk 60 g tahini with 1 grated garlic clove, 25 g lemon juice and 1.5 g salt, then gradually whisk in 60–70 g cold water until the sauce coats a spoon. Mix the finely sliced red onion, sumac, chopped parsley, 10 g lemon juice and a pinch of salt, then leave for 10 minutes.
- Minute 20: heat the griddle over a medium-high heat. During the 4-minute heating time, thread the pieces without draining onto 4 skewers, 3–4 pieces per skewer; discard the marinade in the mixing bowl. Oil the ridges with folded kitchen paper and lay the skewers side by side, handles facing you and extending beyond the griddle.
- Grill for 12–14 minutes, turning a quarter-turn every 3 minutes with tongs, and brush with the reserved 2 tbsp marinade at the first turn. Reduce the heat to medium if the paprika blackens. The chicken is ready when opaque all the way through and the juices run clear when the largest piece is pierced (72–75°C on a thermometer, if using). Rest for 3 minutes under a loose sheet of foil.
- Fluff the rice with a fork and divide between plates. Add 2 skewers per person, drizzle with tahini sauce, serving the rest in a sauceboat, and top with sumac onions. Dinner is on the table at about minute 45.
The same dish and quantities, with the marinade made the day before (10 minutes, not included in the 45). In the evening, only the rice, tahini sauce and grilling remain. This is how Levantine grill restaurants work, and the chicken is all the better for it.
Lighter version
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot) : removed
- Basmati rice : 120 g
- Extra virgin olive oil : 30 g
- Tahini (raw sesame paste) : 40 g
- Water : 325 g
- add Skinless chicken breast escalopes (150 g each) 400 g (Breast cut into 3 cm cubes for skewers by the butcher)
For chicken breast cubes, marinate the day before without fail, using 20 g oil in the marinade instead of 30 g. Grill for only 9–10 minutes, basting at the first turn; remove as soon as the meat is opaque, as resting finishes the cooking.
For the rice, use 10 g oil to brown the vermicelli, 120 g rice and 280 g hot water, with the same cooking time (12 minutes, then 10 minutes' rest). For the tahini sauce, loosen 40 g tahini with 45 g cold water.
Breast instead of thigh, 60 g rice per person and a third less tahini (40 g tahini); the marinade, sumac onions and grilling stay the same.
On your plate
Recipe
1080 kcal · protein 61 g · carbs 89 g · fat 50 g
Quantities per person
- 225 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot)
- 22.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 90 g Lemon
- 5 g White wine vinegar
- 12.5 g Garlic
- 10 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
- 2 g Sweet paprika
- 1.5 g Baharat spice blend
- 0.25 g Ground cinnamon
- 0.5 g Ground black pepper
- 4.75 g Fine salt
- 80 g Basmati rice
- 20 g Wheat vermicelli (angel-hair pasta)
- 202.5 g Water
- 2.5 g Chicken stock cubes
- 30 g Tahini (raw sesame paste)
- 30 g Red onions
- 1 g Sumac
- 5 g Flat-leaf parsley
Cooking tips
With preparation the day before, the dish takes 45 minutes (see the easy method): massage the chicken with the marinade, cover with cling film and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Lemon and vinegar do not 'cook' thigh meat; it stays supple. There is no yoghurt here, as this is a meat dish: tenderness comes from the thick garlic, tomato purée and oil marinade, the thigh meat and basting during cooking. For the traditional Lebanese accompaniment, replace the tahini sauce with toum: pound 25 g garlic (5 cloves) with 3 g salt, then use a hand blender to emulsify with 120 g neutral oil poured in a thin stream and 20 g lemon juice until white and firm. This is trickier; tahini sauce is reliable every time. Without a griddle, use a very hot flat cast-iron pan for the same time, or the oven grill at 230°C, with the skewers on a rack over a tray, for 14–16 minutes, turning halfway through. If the rice is still firm or catches on the bottom after resting, add 50 g boiling water, cover and wait 5 minutes. For leftovers, cut up the cold chicken the next day and serve in a pita with the tahini sauce, sumac onions and tomatoes.
Shish taouk from the grills of Lebanon and Israel, in a dairy-free version; riz bi sh'ariyeh, the vermicelli rice found throughout the Levant, with sumac onions and tahini sauce from the Israeli mixed-grill plate.
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