Most of us know it as shish kebab, a dish of Turkish origin. Still, nearly every culture has some trick for sticking food into fire without burning their hands. French brochettes, South African sosoties, Nepalese sekuwas, Argentinean pinchos. It’s all food-on-a-stick, and it’s all delicious.
Why you need to learn this
Obviously, we’re well beyond needing to plead a case for the smoky goodness of grilled food. One thing that makes skewering so attractive to the cook, however, is its compatibility with advance preparation. All the chopping, mixing, soaking and impaling can be done hours before cooking. When dinner approaches, remove the skewers from any marinade and lay them on the grill or under the broiler. Because everything is in bite-sized pieces, cooking takes only minutes.
Steps to follow
On the one hand, instructions for shish kebab and its cousins are simple: Put some food on a stick and grill it. Hence, today we’ll dispense with our typical routine of 1-2-3 directions in favor of several thoughts and suggestions designed to give you a better-looking, better-tasting product.
The food
Just about anything can be skewered and grilled: meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, even cheese. Two considerations, however, are the shapes of your cuts and the varied cooking times for different ingredients. While multicolored skewers holding several ingredients are admittedly quite festive, I’ve had my fill of kebabs with perfectly cooked meat next to nearly raw onions and desiccated mushrooms.
Knife cuts: Make sure your pieces are cut in similar shapes and sizes. Then skewer them to expose the maximum surface to the heat. Cut pieces of zucchini or yellow squash on a bias and somewhat thick, and skewer the pieces lengthwise. For pieces of bell pepper, poke the skewer through opposite ends so they lay down flat.
Dedicated skewers: Skewer ingredients separately, or group them together by cooking time. Onions and peppers on one skewer, tomatoes and mushrooms on another, whole shrimp, strips of chicken breast or chunks of beef tenderloin on a third (photo 1).
The skewers
Materials: Metal skewers are easy to use, easy to clean and fairly indestructible. Single-use bamboo skewers, available at most chain grocers, suggest Asia or the tropics (photo 2). Be sure to soak bamboo for at least half an hour before using to prevent it from burning on the grill. Other natural skewers add an elegant touch along with subtle flavor notes. Rosemary sprigs, lemon grass and slivers of sugar cane are very cool. Chefs in Basque country whittle skewers from licorice root. Remember that any flammable material may succumb to conflagration. When this happens, don’t despair: Remove the cooked food from the charred stick and rethread onto a fresh skewer.
Double up: One thing I’ve always found infuriating is the way food rotates randomly every time I lift the skewer, preventing it from cooking uniformly. An easy solution is to use two skewers. Thread everything onto one skewer, just to one side of the center point. Lay that skewer on your cutting board and push the second skewer up through the food just on the opposite side of center (photo 3). The food stays put, the skewers flip easily on the grill, and it’s an interesting plate presentation.
A few final notes
Remember, skewers cook very quickly. Place them directly over glowing coals and it shouldn’t take more than a minute or two per side.
Also, the speedy cooking demands cuts of meat that are low in connective tissue (which requires long, slow cooking in liquid to break down). Steak cuts–tenderloins, strips, etc.–are terrific.
Finally, you don’t need to load up the entire skewer. Appetizers or hors d’oeuvres can have just one or two elements, but be sure to include a delicious dipping sauce or two.
Above all, remember what you like and don’t like about what you do, then build on that knowledge next time around.
Chicken satay with peanut sauce
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 7 minutes
Yield: 8 appetizer servings or 4 entree servings
Satay originated in Indonesia, though it’s mostly known from its appearances in Thai restaurants.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 piece (1 inch-long) ginger root, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons each: Thai fish sauce, peanut butter
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder, optional
Juice of 1 lime
Peanut sauce:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cloves garlic, 1 crushed, 1 minced
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup each: fish sauce, soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus 2 tablespoons more, chopped, for garnish, optional
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper, optional
Juice of 2 limes
1. Place breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap; pound to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut breasts lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips; set aside. Mix the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, peanut butter, brown sugar, curry powder and lime juice in a large bowl; add chicken strips. Cover; refrigerate up to 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, soak bamboo skewers in water 30 minutes. For peanut sauce, whisk peanut butter, garlic, coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, cilantro, brown sugar, red pepper and lime juice until smooth in a medium bowl, adding more coconut milk if needed for desired consistency.
3. Prepare a grill or grill pan. Remove chicken from marinade; thread onto skewers. Grill, turning once, until just done, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to platter or plates. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve with peanut sauce.
Nutrition information per serving (with 1 tablespoon sauce):
151 calories, 42% of calories from fat, 7 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 36 mg cholesterol, 4 g carbohydrates, 16 g protein, 804 mg sodium, 0.5 g fiber
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DeWan is an instructor at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago.
