Liver Shish Kebab is another famous shish kebab variety of Turkish cuisine. At first sight, it may look like a regular lamb shish kebab; however, their taste and ingredients are way different than each other. Liver shish Kebab made from lamb liver. On the other hand, lamb shish kebab is made from the boneless leg of lamb.
Liver Shish Kebab is the only kebab variety that people prefer to eat in the early mornings as breakfast in Adana city of Turkey. Yes, you read it right and your eyes are fine. In Adana city, people prefer to eat Liver Shish Kebab for breakfast for more than 200 years. This is one of the strangest traditions that I have heard about in our cuisine. In other cities, people prefer to eat this magnificent taste during lunch or dinner as normal.
Adana city is not the only city that is famous for its Liver Shish Kebab. There are also a few cities too. Such as Urfa city and Diyarbakır city of Turkey. Both cities are also very famous for their Liver Shish Kebabs.
The history of Liver Shish Kebab
If you ask me about the origin of this amazing taste; I don’t have any specific evidence of my hand regarding by whom or when it was first found in Turkey. But thank god, it has been found somehow in our Turkish soils.
All these three cities (Adana city, Urfa city, and Diyarbakır city) in Turkey are full of history. And I am not talking about a few hundred of years of history, I am talking about the history of thousands of years. If you are planning to visit Turkey and want to taste history and food at the same time, apply for a tour that has Adana, Urfa, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, and Hatay cities in it.
You may think you have eaten great food before but if you taste any local food from one of these cities, you may consider applying for Turkish citizenship. The local tastes in these cities are just perfect.
Where to eat?
Adana City: If you visit Adana, you need to wake up very early in the morning to taste this taste. Because at Adana city, the grills start to burn from 4:00 AM until 9:00 AM. Let’s assume you will visit Adana city and you will give a shot at this taste. The only address you need to visit is called Kazancılar Çarşısı (Kazancılar Bazaar). Pick a restaurant and just give Liver Shish Kebab as an order.
Urfa City: If you visit Urfa city, I recommend you stop by Cevahir Han Restaurant. You will find the taste and authentic atmosphere at this restaurant and I believe you will like it a lot. This restaurant also has special and cultural gathering nights called Sıra Nights which you may want to see.
Diyarbakır City: If you stop by Diyarbakır city; then my pick will be Umut Ciğercisi. This restaurant really knows what they are doing. Be ready to give a break to your diet plan.
Let’s make this simple yet delicious Liver Shish Kebab.
Pro Tip: Always use the thinnest shish while making Liver Shish Kebab because the Liver is soft meat and it easily falls apart with thick shish. So, always use the thinnest shish.
Liver Shish Kebab
Ingredients
- 500 gr Lamb Liver
- 150 gr tail fat Cube cut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 teaspoon ground cumin
Serving
- 1 Onion Slice cut
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground sumac
Instructions
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Put slice cut onion and 1 teaspoon of salt into a small bowl and mix them well to reduce the raw onion's bitterness. After you mix them well, wash the onions slices and drain them well.
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Add 1 teaspoon of sumac on the drained raw onion slices and mix them well and then set aside. We will use this for serving with liver shish kebab.
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Wash the liver and drain well. The liver has a very thin membrane and you need to peel it off. With a small knife, cut through this membrane and peel it off. By doing that, you will also allow the liver to cook faster and smoother.
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Cut the liver into cubes 1-inch by1-inch and put in a bowl. Add salt and cumin into this bowl and mix them with liver cubes well.
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Put 2 liver cubes and 1 tail fat cube (total 6 liver cubes and 3 tail fat cubes) to the 1 skewer. Continue until all liver cubes and tail fat cubes finish and set aside.
If you are going to use wooden skewers, leave them in water for 10 minutes to prevent them from catching fire. I always recommend stainless steel thin skewers.
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Cook Liver Shish on the bbq until all sides of tail fat cubes are golden brown. Once the tail fat turns to golden color, this will also show the liver cooked well. (Don't forget to turn the skewers continuously to keep the liver juice inside the liver.)
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Serve with the previously prepared raw onions with sumac.
Recipe Notes
Tip: Serve with lavash bread and prepared raw onion and sumac mix.
First, Open the lavash bread or tortilla bread. And then put the sumac and raw onion mix into the tortilla bread and then put the liver shish kebab on top. Roll the tortilla bread and voila. You are in food heaven now.
