Ingredients

1kg of lamb (cubed, preferably tender and lean meat *); 10-15g of salt, 2 tsp of paprika; 2 tsp of black pepper; 2 cloves of garlic (crashed); 2 tbsp of sun-dried red pepper paste (preferably Antep origin); 1 tbsp of yogurt; and metal skewers of about 30-40cm length.

Preparation and Cooking

• In a suitable size bowl, combine all the ingredients and marinate it at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.
• Load the marinated meat on the skewers and cook the shishes for about 15-20 min at 170-200^oC in the wood fired oven.
• Remove the cooked Antep Kebabs from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes before serving.
• To serve, slide the shish kebabs off the skewers onto a serving plate or directly onto flatbread or pita bread.
• A highly tasty serving option for this shish kebab involves utilizing a lightly heated flat bread with a spread as a base. This spicy and flavorful spread (popular in Antakya province) can be made by mixing together isot, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. Once the shish kebabs are ready to serve, simply slide them off the skewers directly onto this prepared flatbread.

Hints and Comments

• Antep, currently known as Gaziantep, is a province in the southern part of Anatolia. It is probably the culinary capital of Türkiye, where diverse regional flavours are curated and merged into a rich cuisine. Note that there are different versions of the same dish in the region, which utilize different spices in marination either due to local availability or tradition. For example, Urfa Shish uses “isot” (a type of Urfa pepper) instead of pepper paste.
• * In general, tender and lean meats with minimal amounts of connective tissue would be used in shish kebabs such as: fillet or tenderloin, leg steak, shoulder and lamb loin chops. In addition, the meat around the ribs of the lamb (known as “Maras Taraklığı”) is a good choice for kebabs, which is known for being tender and flavourful.