If you think pork kebab is too fat, beef tough, chicken dry, and lamb specific, try cooking it from turkey. This meat is considered dietary, its energy value is low, so the kebab from it will not be too heavy. At the same time, it will be quite juicy and very satisfying. At the same time it will be much cheaper than kebab made of pork or beef. To taste it will not yield to them, of course, if it is properly prepared. The main preparation is marinating meat. Marinades for turkey kebabs are diverse, so choosing the one that best suits your taste is not difficult.
How to Marinate a Turkey
Even the best meat will not make a tasty and juicy kebab, if you do not know the rules of its preparation. If you not only break the technology, but also choose a poor-quality product, the finished dish will almost certainly not meet your expectations. To make your picnic a success, be sure to read the tips on how to choose a turkey for shish kebab and to marinate it correctly.
- Do not take frozen meat and generally frozen meat on a kebab. The fact is that when it is defrosted, the structure of the meat is disturbed, the product loses some of the moisture, which is why the prepared dishes from it are less juicy than those made from fresh meat. If you are buying a turkey barbecue, give preference to fresh or chilled meat. But from what part of the bird will this meat be a matter of taste.
- Cut the turkey into a shish kebab to be cut into medium sized pieces. It is best to make pieces about 5 cm in size. In this case, they will have time to completely fry before they start to burn, and at the same time remain quite juicy.
- Before cooking kebabs, any meat must be pickled, and turkey is no exception. The acid contained in the marinade prevents the folding of the protein, and if the meat does not have time to soak the marinade, it will become tough very quickly when roasting on charcoal. Marinating a turkey usually takes 2 to 8 hours, sometimes it takes a little less time. Pickling time depends on the size of the pieces and the composition of the marinade.
- As already mentioned, marinades for turkey for the most part contain acidic foods. They are able to react with aluminum, resulting in a harmful substance. In order not to harm yourself and other participants of the picnic, it is unacceptable to marinate meat in aluminum dishes. It is much better to use for this enameled, stainless, glass or ceramic containers.
- If you marinate a turkey under pressure, it will be ready for roasting on coals much faster.
- Salt pulls out liquid from products, for this reason they salt some meat on a shish kebab shortly before stringing it on skewers. Otherwise, the kebab may be dry.
The general principles of cooking turkey kebabs will remain the same no matter what marinade recipe you choose, but the marinating time most often depends on the marinade composition.
Marinade for turkey kebab on kefir with pepper
Composition:
- turkey meat - 2 kg;
- kefir - 0, 5 l;
- onions - 0, 5 kg;
- Bulgarian pepper - 1 kg;
- tomato paste - 100 ml;
- salt, a mixture of ground peppers - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the turkey, pat dry. Cut into pieces of about 40-50 g. Ensure that the skin does not overhang from one piece, since it will almost certainly start to burn when frying meat on the coals.
- Rub the pieces with a mixture of peppers.
- Peel the onions, cut them into rings. It is better to take a medium-sized bow so that the rings are neat. Their thickness should not be too small, the optimum is about 3 mm.
- Wash peppers, cut, remove the stem and seeds. Cut the pulp of the pepper into pieces about 3-4 cm in size.
- Mix tomato paste with kefir to get a uniform composition.
- Place the peppers and onions in the meat, stir everything with your hands so that the vegetables are evenly distributed.
- Pour kefir sauce, mix well again.
- Cover the bowl with the turkey lid or plate, put it in the fridge.
Kefir marinated turkey meat can be fried on coals in 3-5 hours. Do not forget to salt the meat before frying. Stringing it over the skewers, alternate pieces of turkey with pieces of pepper and onion rings - in this case, the kebab will turn out not only tastier and more fragrant, but also more beautiful, especially if you use bright red or yellow pepper.
Marinade for turkey kebab with mayonnaise
Composition:
- turkey fillet - 2 kg;
- mayonnaise - 0, 3 l;
- table vinegar (9 percent) - 50 ml;
- onions - 0, 5 kg;
- barbecue seasoning - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Rinse the turkey fillet in running water, pat dry with paper napkins. Cut into pieces that are suitable in size for cooking kebabs.
- Put mayonnaise in a bowl, add seasoning there, pour in vinegar. Stir until smooth.
- Remove the husks from the bulbs, cut them into thin half rings. Put in mayonnaise and mix.
- Fill the resulting marinade with the prepared turkey meat. Mix everything thoroughly so that the sauce covers each piece.
In the marinade prepared according to this recipe, you need to hold the turkey for 2-4 hours. This will be quite enough to make the kebab out of it tender and juicy. It is not necessary to salt the meat before cooking, as mayonnaise and complex seasoning for shish kebabs already contain salt.
Marinade for turkey with lemon juice and soy sauce
Composition:
- turkey - 2 kg;
- lemon - 2 pcs .;
- soy sauce - 100 ml;
- onions - 0, 5 kg;
- ground black pepper to taste;
- dried marjoram - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Prepare the turkey meat by separating it from the bones by washing and drying it, then cutting it into pieces ranging in size from 4 to 5 cm.
- Mix pepper with marjoram. Sprinkle the mixture with the mixture, stir well, so that the spices are distributed evenly, covering each piece.
- Remove peel from onion. Cut the onion into small pieces.
- Wash the lemons, squeeze the juice out of them in a clean bowl, cut it in half.
- On a special grater, rub the zest - it needs a little, about a teaspoon. Put the zest in lemon juice.
- Pour soy sauce in a bowl with lemon juice, mix.
- Add chopped onion to the sauce.
- Put the turkey pieces in the sauce, mix everything well.
- Cover the bowl with a plate, set the load on top.
Marinate turkey in lemon juice and soy sauce for 2-4 hours. It should stand at this time in a cold place. Salting the marinade is not necessary, as soy sauce will already make the meat salty enough.
Marinade for turkey kebab with kvass and honey
Composition:
- turkey meat - 2 kg;
- honey - 100 g;
- bread kvass - 1 l;
- sweet pepper - 0, 5 kg;
- onions - 0, 5 kg;
- salt, seasonings - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Cut the turkey meat into pieces of 5 cm, after having been washed and dried.
- Peel the onions and cut them into rings of medium thickness.
- Wash the peppers, cut off the stem. Cut the peppers into rings of about the same thickness as the onion.
- Melt the honey to a liquid state, pour it into the dishes with meat, mix well.
- Add seasonings and vegetable rings to the meat, stir gently.
- Fill all with kvass and clean for 2-4 hours in the fridge.
The recipe for this marinade is called Russian. Kvass is an excellent alternative to vinegar or wine, giving the turkey kebab a very pleasant taste.
Marinades for turkey skewers do not resemble one another, and they affect the taste and aroma of meat. If you want to find the best flavor, you can try to cook shish kebab using different marinades, and then choose one.
