Tony Zentgraf
Skewered Street Food Around the World
Do you have guests coming for a visit tomorrow? Don’t have a lot of time or know what to make? No worries, this recipe for Shashlik – Grilled Pork Skewer will save the day.
All you need is some meat, in this recipe I used Pork but you can use Beef or Lamb. Marinate the diced meat overnight in beer, a heavy amount of onion and garlic and a few bay leaves.
Skewer it up when you are ready to grill and serve with a dipping sauce. You will have your guests saying wow!
From the Caucasus Mountain Region comes Shashlik
Shashlik is a skewered meat dish originating from the Caucasus Mountain region between Turkey and Russia. Now Shashlik has become a favorite from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.
Popular meats used for Shashlik range from Lamb to Beef and even Pork. This recipe uses pork but you could substitute any of the other meats.
Variations from Region to Region
There are many variations on the bases for marinades from beer, kefir (a fermented milk), to vinegars or a combination of them to make the marinade. Most times the marinades are very simple with not alot of ingredients.
Acid is Key to the Marinade
The most important thing is to have acid of some kind in the marinade so the meat will get tenderized. Give this recipe a try, you will enjoy this with a dipping sauce from the website. Grill over charcoal to get the maximum flavor.
Variations
If you are wanting to use chicken, I don’t recommend this recipe. I recommend using a Shashlik marinade that is sour cream or yogurt based to give the chicken better flavor.
There are other chicken shashlik recipes out there, some are form India and those marinades have aromatics added that are more traditional to India than central Asia.
Dipping Sauces
Dipping sauces vary as much as the variations of the skewer marinades. Mayonnaise, sour cream or yogurt based dipping sauces seem to be top of the list for shashlik dipping. I put together a mayonnaise, ketchup and paprika sauce that went well with the skewers.
Play around with different variations of the dipping sauces, there are many versions and many with more ingredients.
Enjoy!
Shashlik – Grilled Pork Skewer
Print RecipeEquipment
Recipe Multiplier
- 1 ½ lb Pork Shoulder, Butt or Sirloin diced 1" x 1 ½"
- 2 ea Yellow Onions cut into large pieces
- 3 ea Bay Leaves
- 1 ea Can of Beer
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
Shashlik Seasoning
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Paprika
- ¼ tsp Granulated Garlic
- ¼ tsp Granulated Onion
Quick and Simple Shashlik Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Ketchup
- 1 ea Clove of Garlic minced
- 1 tsp Granulated Onion
- 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
Instructions
Marinating the Pork
- Trim fat from pork and dice into roughly 1" x 1 ½" pieces.
- Peel and cut the onions into large chunks.
- In a bowl, combine the ingredients.
- Mix together and place into a non reactive pan or container. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Skewering and Grilling
- Skewer the pork and onions, alternating placement.
- Mix together the Shashlik Seasoning.
- Season the skewers with the seasoning mix.
- Preheat the charcoal grill & oil the grates.
- Grill the pork, rotating to char all sides.
- Pull the pork from the grill when it reaches 140-145°
- Mix together ingredients of the dipping sauce. Serve the skewers with the dipping sauce. Enjoy!
