Cooking barbecue in my family is a whole ritual, accompanied by restless jokes and constant culinary experiments. In my experience, the most ruddy portioned pieces, saturated inside with fatty juice with the taste of fragrant herbs, after frying, are obtained from pork neck (neck part of the pork carcass). That is why I always try to buy a juicy piece of pork at the market before weekends and holidays, reminiscent of marbled meat.
Everyone knows that fried meat turns out much softer and juicier if it is pre-marinated. But in those situations when guests suddenly arrive at the dacha, and there is no time to soak the meat in the marinade for a long time, I use ordinary strongly carbonated mineral water to soften the kebab. The carbon dioxide bubbles present in soda cope with softening the transverse fibers of portioned pork no worse than traditional products: vinegar, wine, soy sauce, mustard, mayonnaise and fermented milk drinks.
How to properly marinate shish kebab in soda?
Ingredients for marinating 2 kg pork tenderloin:
- highly carbonated table water – 150-200 ml;
- onions – 0.5 kg (3-4 heads);
- bay leaf – 3 pcs.;
- pepper mixture – 2-3 pinches;
- ready-made mixture of herbs for meat (basil, paprika, coriander, garlic, parsley, etc.) – 1 tbsp. l.;
- table salt - to taste (30-40 g).
Soaking meat:
1. Dry the neck, washed under cold water, with a paper towel, cut into portions (approximately 5 by 5 cm) and lightly add salt directly to the cutting board.
2. Cut the peeled onions into rings, put them in an enamel container and also add some salt so that the spicy vegetable releases the juice.
3. Add pieces of bay leaf crushed with your fingers to the onion.
4. Place the meat on the juiced onion, salt it using the remaining salt, pepper and add a store-bought seasoning mixture.
5. Mix the kebab thoroughly with your hands (at least 5 minutes) so that the spices are evenly distributed.
6. Fill the meat with onions and spices with soda so that the water completely covers the meat.
7. Leave the kebab to marinate for 1.5-2 hours at room temperature. To activate the processes of splitting meat fibers, cover the meat with a flat plate, the diameter of which is several millimeters smaller than that of the bowl, and place pressure on top (a liter jar of water or a brick).
Cooking shish kebab:
1. Thread pieces of meat onto skewers and alternate them with onion rings.
2. We cook the products in the grill on coals hot to medium heat, left over after burning fruit trees or birch.
3. Turn the meat over for the first time no earlier than after 4 minutes. During this time, portioned pieces are seized on one side with a golden brown crust, which retains the meat juice inside.
4.Then we fry the second side of the kebabs, sprinkling them with mineral water, which makes the golden crust of the meat even more appetizing and prevents open flames from breaking through.
5. The total time for frying medium pieces of pork on skewers is 15-20 minutes.
6. Check the readiness of the meat using a knife and fork.
Serving
Remove the fried meat with onion rings from the skewers and place on a beautiful platter.
Serve the kebab with fresh vegetables, preparing a salad from them or arranging the slices on a plate. The products go equally well with any cold appetizer, be it a Greek salad dressed with olive oil, a cabbage-cucumber salad dressed with soy sauce and corn oil, or a tomato-cucumber salad dressed with sour cream and mayonnaise.
At the same time as the shish kebab or immediately after removing the skewers from the grill on still hot coals, you can cook potatoes in foil by first cutting the tubers in half, washing and salting them, and also adding a slice of lard to each potato. The potatoes, wrapped in aluminum foil, are grilled over coals for 18 to 20 minutes.
A variety of sauces, both store-bought and homemade, will help highlight the taste of fried pork and baked potatoes. All types of ketchup and tomato sauces (chili, Krasnodar, tender, satsebeli, Bavarian, Mexican, lecho), as well as adjika, mustard, tkemali, barbecue, etc. are in harmony with pork.
Of all types of baked goods, my guests and household members like freshly baked Armenian lavash, but you can also put on the table other types of bread, both wheat and rye (pita, arnaut, Borodino, loaf, Ukrainian).
And, of course, many people cannot imagine gatherings around the fire without good wine.Grilled products are usually served with table, semi-sweet and semi-dry red and rose wines (“Cabernet”, “Sunny Valley”, “Alazani Valley”), but there are also those who like to eat barbecue with aromatic white wines (“Sauvignon”, “Tsinandali” , "Massandra Kocur").
And don’t forget to put on the table mineral water, slightly salty, for example, “Mirgorodskaya” or “Truskavetskaya”, as well as various natural juices, preferably salty and sour and sweet and sour (tomato, apple, Sicilian orange, fresh mix of citrus fruits ) for children and those who do not drink alcoholic beverages.
Enjoy your summer gatherings and enjoy your picnic!
