Meat cooked on a chargrill differs from pan-fried steaks by the smell of smoke and the unique aroma of spices. To make the kebab a success, do not forget to add to the marinade suitable spices, seasonings.
Classic Shish kebab seasoning set
The traditional seasoning mix for 1 kg of any meat includes 1 tsp. ground black pepper, 0.5 tsp. chili, 2 tsp. dried garlic. Salt and sugar are obligatory.
The sweetener, in addition to enhancing the flavor, gives the dish an appetizing crust. Garlic can be used as dry as well as fresh. The latter is added to the marinade in smaller quantities because of the more pronounced flavor. To make the meat look more appealing, paprika and turmeric are added to the spices, which color the dish brightly.
Top 10 spices for kebabs
Popular spices, spices for barbecued meat:
Laurel Leaf
Gives the product a spicy aroma and a resinous, bitter flavor, and whets the appetite. The spice eliminates bloating of the stomach, clears the airways, eliminates muscle pain.
Pepper
The king of spices, without which no kebab mix is without. Professionals advise using peas crushed or crushed with a knife, rather than ready-made powder from a sachet. You can add black, red, white, and green peppers to the recipe.
Garlic
Dried pellets impart a faint garlic flavor to the dish, but not the aroma. Fresh garlic due to the release of sulfur compounds has a pungent, spicy smell and a burning taste. The spice suppresses pathogenic microflora in the intestines, speeds up the metabolism.
Coriander
Just half a teaspoon of ground seeds with the smell of burnt orange is enough to enrich the kebab with a mildly spicy taste with a sweet delicate aftertaste. Coriander lowers blood sugar levels, relieves edema, stops diarrhea. You can add coriander, which goes well with the meat.
Curry
Indian spice set is more suitable for marinating chicken, fish, seafood. The spice imparts a unique flavor to products due to its complex composition. Curry is assembled from hot chillies and allspice peppers, coriander, fenugreek with a nutty flavor, cloves, cardamom, ginger.
Hummel-Suneli
Traditional Georgian spice mix with a lot of dry herbs has a specific aroma, slightly spicy spicy taste. This universal spice is added to meat, vegetables, fish.
Sumac
Another Caucasian spice that can replace lemon juice, goes well with meat. It has a tart, sour, astringent taste and a faint sourish smell. Sumac is a ruby colored powder made from dried mature berries of the same name plant. This spice controls cholesterol metabolism, thinning the blood, and is useful for digestive disorders.
Basil
Fragrant herbs enrich the taste of a dish with a slightly bitter anise flavor and a lemony, less often vanilla aroma. Basil protects liver cells, relieves bronchospasm, fights infections.
Paprika
Powdered seasoning has multifaceted, but poorly pronounced organoleptic properties, depending on the variety of pepper. The maximum sharpness on the Scoville scale – 1000 conventional units. Paprika gives meat a sweetish taste with a slight bitterness.
Turmeric
The spice has a nutty, slightly bitter taste, a strong spicy resinous smell that reveals itself when heated. Cumin grains are roasted in a dry pan and ground in a mortar before being added.
If desired, onions are added to the kebab, additionally seasoned with saffron, basil or thyme.
Suitable spices for pork
Sage, coriander, marjoram, and ginger work well with soft, juicy pork.
To take no chances and guarantee a delicious pork shish kebab, you can use two kinds of spice mixes developed by professionals.
The first is the optimal set of seasonings for 1 kg of meat:
- The juice of two onions;
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper;
- A couple of pinches of thyme;
- A pinch of coriander grains ground in a mortar;
- Zira to taste (you can do without it).
Pokhlebkin’s spice kit for pork includes only 5 ingredients – black pepper and allspice, fresh or dried garlic, onion juice, and bay leaf.
Seasonings for other meats, fish, vegetables
For beef kebabs, ginger and tarragon are added to the classic set. The first ingredient softens the tough muscle fibers, the second gives a fresh, special flavor.
With chicken, duck combines tarragon, thyme, with goose nutmeg. Common seasonings for poultry are a mixture of peppers, paprika, turmeric, garlic, and basil.
Unleash the flavor of lamb and mute its specific smell with cloves, ginger, rosemary, oregano, and mint.
Paprika, cumin, honeysuneli, curry are suitable for vegetables.
Fish kebabs are seasoned with lemon juice, coriander, allspice, red pepper, and provincial herbs.
Seafood is marinated in oil with ginger, garlic, and ground red pepper before barbecuing shrimp.
How to choose seasonings for shish kebab
To get the most out of spices, flavor, follow the rules of choice:
- Buy spices in foil packaging. Mechanical damage is unacceptable, as they increase humidity and develop harmful microorganisms. Bloated packaging indicates that starch has been added to the spices.
- Pay attention to the expiration date. The closer it is to the end, the more the product loses flavor and aroma.
- Give preference to whole spices in the form of seeds, buds, pods, roots or berries. Powdered spices contain additional components and do not have a bright flavor. Mill packs are a good option.
- In stores the product is stale on the shelves and it is difficult to call it quality. Visit a farmer’s market, where you can smell the aroma of spices from afar.
Aromatic mixture is better to make your own, selecting to the classic set of additional ingredients to your liking. In order not to spoil the kebab, do not forget to check the proportions.
Read also:
- What seasonings and spices are added to ground meat?To flavor, enrich the flavor of ground meat for pies, cutlets, dumplings, sausages, stews and many other dishes, spicy herbs and condiments are introduced into the recipe. Each cook and hostess uses both classic spices and original additives common to one national cuisine or another. Traditional spices and seasonings for ground pork The best spices… Read more: What seasonings and spices are added to ground meat?
- What seasonings and spices are added to the kebab?Grilled meats are distinguished from pan-fried steaks by their smoky smell and unique spice flavour. To make kebab a success, don’t forget to add appropriate spices and seasonings to the marinade.
- What seasonings and spices are added to buckwheat?Buckwheat is a leader in protein content, B vitamins, rich in phosphorus, iron, magnesium. The product with a low glycemic index is especially valuable for dietary diets for weight loss and for people with gluten intolerance. In cooking, groats are used for cooking porridges, garnish for meat, fish, vegetables, mushrooms. Buckwheat is added to soups,… Read more: What seasonings and spices are added to buckwheat?
The articles on this site are for information purposes only. The site administrators are not responsible for attempting to apply any recipe, advice or diet, nor do they guarantee that the information provided will help or harm you personally. Be cautious and always consult a doctor or nutritionist!
*All products recommended are selected by our editorial team. Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, you help us earn a small commission from the seller and thus support the writing of useful and quality articles.