18
Nov
Well, I was going to post about chef Musa’s Adana kebab as a follow up to my previous post on street kebabs in Aleppo but then he brought out his special kebab knife, known as zirh in Turkish, which looks more like a sabre than a knife. It is used to chop meat for kebabs, or tripe for iskembe çorbasi (tripe soup) or the herbs and peppers that are mixed with the meat. Everyone in Turkey will tell you that there is no other way to chop these ingredients — the chopping has to be done by hand to get the right texture, and despite the zirh looking enormous and unwieldy, it is surprisingly easy to use, and as you can imagine, very efficient. So, I thought I’d post a few of the photos I had taken on various trips to Turkey showing the zirh in action .
Here is a black & white one of a tripe soup maker chopping an impressive amount of tripe.
And here are a few which I shot in Gaziantep in the kitchens of Imam Cagdas, with each cook using his zirh to chop meat, herbs or peppers I think. Quite a sight.
And here is a short, and I’m afraid not very good clip of all of the chefs at Imam Cagdas chopping away.
And finally, here is one of chef Musa, chef Burak and me in action at WOF which Zeynep, chef Musa’s wife snapped.
And here are two recipes, chef Musa’s Adana kebab and my tripe soup. As for my own zirh, I will post a picture of me using it in London. I can see it becoming an integral part of my demonstrations!
Chef Musa’s Adana Kebab
Yields 4
15 oz (450 g) lamb, shoulder and flank
1/3 oz (10 g) tail fat (from a male lamb)
1 red pepper, finely minced
1 shallot, finely minced
1 tbsp Maras chili pepper
- Using a knife or mezzaluna, mince the lamb and tail fat.
- Put the meat in a bowl. Add finely minced shallots.
- Discard the excess juice of minced red pepper and add in the bowl.
- Add Maras pepper. Mix all the ingredients well.
- Divide this mixture into 4 balls.
- Using wide metal skewers, put the meat onto skewers.
- Grill on oak charcoal.
- Serve on lavash bread.
©Musa Dagdiveren
Tripe Soup
Iskembe Çorbasi
Tripe, both sheep and ox, is a prized meat in most Mediterranean countries. In Italy, Spain and France, it is sold already cleaned and cooked. All you have left to do is dress it at home with your choice of sauce or garnish. However, in Middle Eastern countries, tripe is sold uncooked although, most of the time, already cleaned. You will still need to clean it further at home by washing it in several changes of soap and water. The following recipe comes from Turkey where there are many restaurants and cafés that specialize in tripe soup. A similar version of this soup is also popular in Greece (patsas) and, again, it is consumed early in the morning, after a night’s drinking. However, if you are horrified at the idea of eating offal or variety meats as it is known in the US, you can easily replace the tripe with lamb or chicken. Serves 6
10 ounce (300 g) piece of uncooked sheep’s tripe
sea salt
5 tablespoons (75 g) unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
juice of half a lemon, or to taste
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup white wine or champagne vinegar
1 – Wash the tripe in several changes of soap and water and rinse well. Put in a large saucepan and add 1 1/2 quarts (1 1/2 litres) water. Place over a medium-high heat, add salt to taste and bring to the boil. As the water comes to the boil, skim the surface clean then cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender.
2 – When the tripe is done, remove and slice into thin strips. Strain the stock and set aside.
3 – Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a clean saucepan and stir in the flour. Slowly add the strained tripe stock while continuing to stir. Add the tripe and simmer for another 5 minutes.
4 – Beat the eggs with the lemon juice.
5 – Melt the rest of the butter in a frying pan. Stir in the Aleppo pepper. Add a little of the hot soup liquid to the egg mixture then pour the egg mixture into the soup stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic and vinegar. Usually the garlic-vinegar mixture is served on the side for people to help themselves but I prefer to mix it all in.
6 – Taste and adjust the seasoning of the soup then pour into a pre-heated tureen and drizzle the flavored butter all over. Serve very hot with good bread.
©anissa helou, from Mediterranean Street Food
Tagged : adana kebab, Ciya, iskembe çorbasi, musa dagdiveran, offal, tripe, turkey, WOF, zirh 
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There is 14 comments on this post
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November 18, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Anissa – This looks like a makhrata, but straightened out – provides the same results, or thereabouts.
Very interesting.
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November 18, 2009 at 12:42 pm
is makhrata the knife that is used for m’lukhiyeh?
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November 23, 2009 at 5:34 am
I want one of those knives too!
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November 23, 2009 at 9:23 am
i guess i will have to buy a whole lot when i am there and send one to whoever wants it!
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November 23, 2009 at 4:32 pm
That IS a big knife. Not sure if it’ll be safe to travel through Shoreditch anymore…
Just over two weeks before M and I will be off to Damascus. We went to the embassy today to apply for the visa, the syrian embassy must have the friendliest and fastest visa department ever! and it’s service with a smile. i’m always embarrassed when i go to the German embassy and see how visa applicants are treated by the official representatives of ‘my’ country.
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November 26, 2009 at 8:41 am
anissa, we look forward to seeing a photo of you with this lovely monstrosity in your hand!
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November 26, 2009 at 12:46 pm
i’ll post it as soon as i have it!
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December 7, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Scary but effective!
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December 7, 2009 at 9:21 pm
totally, and fairly easy to use even though it is so big
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March 29, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Hi Anissa,
Really enjoying looking through the archives of your blog.
I’m off to Turkey next week for seven days and was wondering if you could recommend a place to pick up a Zirhk??
We start off in Istanbul and then we’re free to travel wherever.
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March 29, 2010 at 4:20 pm
i think musa buys his from gaziantep. he promised to get me one when i get there. perhaps you can ask him. if not, i will ask a friend and see what she says.
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August 19, 2017 at 8:55 pm
“is makhrata the knife that is used for m’lukhiyeh?”
Yes it is.
Makhrata translates into chopper in this context. It is used for chopping herbs and leafy greens in general.
In a completely different context. a turning machine used in workshops is also called Makhrata.
-Sam
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November 7, 2017 at 1:16 pm
Hello!
My chef which is from Turkey, wold love to have a knife like this,
I was looking in many websites but couldn’t find any,
Wondering if you can help me how to buy one of this knife
Thanks
julian!
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November 7, 2017 at 1:46 pm
I am afraid I cannot help. I bought mine in Gaziantep, Turkey