Kibbeh

Shaped into a pointed torpedo between wet palms and deep-fried, so the shell goes crisp and the filling stays loose.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

the shell

• 300 g fine bulgur
• 400 g very lean lamb, minced twice
• 1 onion, grated and squeezed bone dry
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• a bowl of iced water, for the hands

the filling

• 300 g minced lamb, with some fat
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 60 g pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
• salt and black pepper

to fry

• 1.5 litres sunflower oil

Method

1. IT IS SHAPED INTO A POINTED TORPEDO BETWEEN WET PALMS AND DEEP-FRIED. The shape is not decoration and it is how a cook is judged: an ovoid, tapering to a point at both ends, with a wall perhaps three millimetres thick. Thin walls and sharp points mean the shell crisps all over and the ratio of crust to filling is right; a thick-walled round ball is stodgy in the middle and the filling is lost inside it. The hands are kept wet in iced water throughout, because the paste sticks to anything dry and warms under the palms.
2. THE SHELL IS POUNDED TO A PASTE, NOT MIXED. Soaked fine bulgur and twice-minced lean lamb worked together hard for a good ten minutes -- in a mortar, a processor in short bursts, or by hand -- until it stops being two things and becomes one smooth claylike paste that takes and holds a thumbprint. Stirred together it will not hold a wall and the torpedoes split in the oil.
3. THE SHELL MEAT IS VERY LEAN AND THE FILLING MEAT IS NOT. That division is deliberate. Fat in the shell melts in the fryer and opens holes; fat in the filling is what keeps it moist through five minutes of frying. Asking the butcher for lean leg for one and shoulder for the other is the whole trick.
4. THE ONION IN THE SHELL IS SQUEEZED BONE DRY. Grated, then wrung out in the hands or a cloth until nothing more comes. Any water in the shell steams inside the sealed torpedo and bursts it.
5. THE FILLING IS COOKED AND COOLED COMPLETELY FIRST. The lamb browned, the pine nuts toasted in butter, the whole thing cooked until dry and then chilled. Warm filling softens the shell from the inside while it is being shaped, and a wet one blows the seam open.
6. THEY GO INTO OIL AT 170°C, SUBMERGED, A FEW AT A TIME. Deep-fried five to six minutes until deep brown and hollow-sounding. Hotter and the shell darkens before the centre is hot; crowded, the temperature drops and they absorb oil.
7. The fine bulgur covered in cold water and soaked 20 MINUTES, then DRAINED and SQUEEZED.
8. The filling: the butter melted, the pine nuts toasted until golden and lifted out; the onions softened; the fattier lamb browned hard and cooked until the pan is DRY.
9. The spices, pomegranate molasses and seasoning stirred in, the pine nuts returned, and the filling COOLED COMPLETELY.
10. The shell: the soaked bulgur, lean twice-minced lamb, BONE-DRY grated onion, cinnamon, allspice and salt POUNDED together 10 MINUTES to a smooth claylike paste that HOLDS A THUMBPRINT.
11. A bowl of ICED water set beside the work.
12. A walnut-sized piece taken, a WET finger pushed in and turned to hollow it to a 3 mm wall.
13. A little cold filling spooned in, the opening closed, and the whole rolled between WET PALMS into a TORPEDO with a POINT at each end.
14. The oil heated to 170°C.
15. Deep-fried SUBMERGED, a few at a time, 5 to 6 MINUTES, until deep brown and hollow-sounding.
16. Drained on paper.
17. TESTED: the shell should be crisp and thin and none should have split. Splits mean water in the shell or a warm filling.
18. Served hot with yoghurt and lemon.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Lebanon · All recipes