Making Shashlik in Singapore

I have been running a long experiment in Singapore: trying to make shashlik that tastes and smells like a roadside café somewhere in Mordovia, in Russia. A big highway, trucks pulling in, plenty of men with moustaches grilling meat, and a smell that reaches you from the road.

Shashlik is meat cooked on skewers over charcoal. The version I am chasing comes with the pleasure of stopping after a long drive. In Singapore, I would first have to find somewhere far enough away to drive to. The island would run out before I got hungry. So I make the shashlik myself.

A Weber standing in for a mangal

I do not have a mangal, the open charcoal brazier normally used for shashlik. I use a portable Weber Go-Anywhere instead: take out the upper cooking grate and lay the skewers across the top. It is small, and sometimes the airflow is not enough, so I have to fan the coals. But with good charcoal, such as coconut charcoal or Japanese white binchotan, it works quite well.

That little Weber is one of my best purchases. I paid 200 Singapore dollars for it, and it has repaid me many times over in convenience. It folds up like a little suitcase and fits perfectly into the barbecue setup at our condo. After cooking, I close the lid and vents, let the coals go out completely and the grill cool, then put it away on the balcony. The charcoal stays inside, and I clear it out myself. I suspect the condo cleaners appreciate that too.

Proper skewers were another problem. The ones I kept finding were short, thin and round. I could hardly find the long, flat sort, even on marketplaces. Then I unexpectedly found them at IKEA. Of all places.

The meat, and the expensive version

The Malaysian pork I tried was not quite what I wanted. At Little Farms I found expensive Australian pork collar, or neck, with fat running through it. That was closer. Sometimes I use marbled beef instead.

For an idea of the current cost, pork collar at Little Farms is around 38.50 SGD/kg; its premium ribeye is roughly 96–115 SGD/kg. Phoenix Australian wagyu ribeye MB4/5 works out at about 147 SGD/kg. The cut and marbling make a considerable difference.

“Idiot shashlik”

There is an old joke about an “idiot cocktail”: take a 25-year-old whisky and mix it with cola. Sometimes I take marbled beef and put it in a vinegar marinade. I call that “idiot shashlik”.

My marinade

I use equal amounts of meat and onions. Lots and lots of onions, cut into rings. I love the onions.

• Meat: pork collar or beef.
• Onions: the same amount as the meat, cut into rings.
• Sparkling mineral water: San Pellegrino.
• Vinegar: I use Heinz.
• Salt and black pepper: both ground pepper and whole peppercorns.
• Sometimes: a few cloves and a little smoked paprika, depending on my mood.

I add vinegar to both the pork and the beef. I like it: to me, it seems to bring back that particular shashlik smell. That is the taste I am after. Everything goes into the fridge overnight.

Then I take it to the barbecue area, thread the meat and onion onto the skewers, and get on with grilling.

You may judge me for the vinegar. But I am trying to get back to that café by the highway, with the smell of meat and onions drifting out to the road. Oh, mama.