Beef steak shawarma marinated in yogurt, lemon juice, orange zest, and warm spices. It is rolled with sumac onion, tomato, and pickled cucumber in shrak bread, drizzled with a creamy tahini sauce, then grilled for a few minutes. A delicious sandwich from the Levantine kitchen.
Shawarma is originally Turkish-Ottoman, but it took on its Levantine identity in the restaurants of Damascus, Aleppo, and Amman, and became famous for the tahini sauce and the thin shrak bread.
In a Lebanese home, the sandwich with light grilling on the saj is a sign of an authentic household.
In a deep bowl, mix the meat with the yogurt, cardamom, salt, ginger, crushed garlic, crushed onion, apple vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, chopped onion, and chopped tomato. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours so the flavors soak in.
In a small bowl, mix the tahini with the lemon juice and salt, add a few drops of water while stirring until the sauce becomes a smooth liquid. Add a tablespoon of yogurt and stir until combined. Cover and chill.
In a wide pan over high heat, heat a little vegetable oil, and sauté the marinated meat slices in batches until they brown on each side and release all their juices, for 8-10 minutes per batch. Repeat until all the meat is done.
Slice an onion into thin slices, sprinkle with salt and a pinch of sumac, and toss with our hands until it wilts, loses its sharpness, and turns a pink color. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Fold a shrak bread loaf and cut it in half without separating the pieces, so we have connected pockets. Repeat with the rest of the loaves.
Fill each pocket with a portion of shawarma meat, and top with the sumac onion slices, tomato slices, pickled cucumber sliced lengthwise, and green olives. Drizzle the tahini sauce over the ingredients.
Wrap the sandwich tightly, and place it in a hot grill or a dry pan for two minutes per side until the bread browns and the sandwich holds together. Serve hot.
The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar, while the glycemic load (GL) measures how much a full serving raises it. Together they give the complete picture.
A low value (≤55) means a gradual rise in blood sugar — the most suitable range for diabetes and insulin resistance.
Glycemic load reflects the impact of the full serving. To lower it: take half a serving, or pair the recipe with a source of protein and fiber.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet per FDA food-label reference values — your daily needs may be higher or lower. Values are derived from the recipe's ingredients via the USDA database.
The most common problems when preparing Beef Shawarma with Tahini Sauce, and how to fix them:
Extend the marinating time to 12 hours, and sauté over medium heat rather than high so the fibers do not seize up.
Dilute with a spoonful of cold water and sweeten with a small spoonful of sugar.
Keeps for 24 hours in the refrigerator before cooking. Cooked meat keeps for 3 days in the refrigerator and 3 weeks in the freezer.
Keeps in a closed jar for 5 days. If it separates, stir with a spoonful of water.
| Original Ingredient | Tested Substitute | Ratio | Flavor Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steak meat | veal or first cuts from the leg | 1:1 | Gives more tenderness after a long marination. |
| Shrak bread | Thin Arabic bread or samouli bread | 1:1 | The result is different, but the idea is the same. |
Marinating overnight in the refrigerator gives a much deeper flavor than marinating for an hour. Beef needs time to break down its fibers, so do not rush it. The final grilling on the grill is what gives the bread its crispness.
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