One of the best Lebanese mezza street food sandwiches is the chicken liver.
As weird as it sounds for some people, chicken liver is a must on each mezza table in Lebanon and you will find it also in all Lebanese street food shops along with the tawouk and shawarma wraps.
It is one of the quickest cheapest recipes that you can prepare. Yet it is full of flavors and very healthy and packed with nutrients.
The chicken liver is very rich in iron and vitamin B12. Also, they are rich with folates that are important for pregnant women or breastfeeding women.
Actually, in Lebanon it is a tradition for the new mothers to eat chicken livers with lots of garlic to helps boost her milk supply and give here that health boost she needs after birth.
I used to eat a lot of liver chicken when I was pregnant and after birth while breastfeeding for that I had the time to develop my own twist to the traditional way we have chicken liver in Lebanon.
The main traditional ingredients that makes our Lebanese chicken liver recipe delicious are still here in my recipe but I added some few twists to the seasonings and ingredients to boost it up just a little bit more and enjoy it as a sandwich with a modern twist.
My favourite way of enjoying these chicken livers is in a sesame sandwich bun with some Lebanese garlic paste spread on the bun, some chopped lettuce and diced tomato and sweet potato fries on the side. Try It this way and you will always be a fan of chicken liver!
You can easily prepare the Lebanese garlic paste at home with only two steps and 4 ingredients, check my story highlights under the same name on Instagram! and I attached the picture below with the recipe also so you can make it and enjoy it with this recipe.
If you like Lebanese mezze recipe make sure you check my other super special mezze dishes that present out you the Lebanese mezze in a new modern delicious way!
Lebanese Chicken livers with my special twist
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken livers cleaned and drained well
Aroma blend
- 2 bay leaves, 1 fresh rosemary sprig, 1 cinnamon stick, 1geranium leaf
My special Spice blend
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tsp kabsaspice mix , ½ tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp sweet pepper (all spices), ¼ tsp grindedblack pepper, ¼ tsp grinded nutmeg ,
other ingredients
- 3 tbsp neutral vegetable oil of your choice I use rapeseed oil
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 3 tbsp tomato puree or sauce not paste
- ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce you can use soy sauce also
- 1 tbsp date molasses
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tsp salt
to serve:
- sesame sandwich buns
- sweet potato fried
- Lebanese garlic paste check article or Instagram for recipe
- Red tomato diced
Instructions
Infuse the frying oil:
- Heat frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil once it is hot, add the aromas (bay, rosemary, cinnamon, geranium) to infuse the oil with their flavours. Let the oil absorb all the flavours by swirling the pan for couple of minutes. Then remove the leaves and sprigs from the pan to continue cooking.
Cook the livers:
- At this phase add the chicken liver to the frying pan and fry until browned on all side no pinker colour. It won’t be cooked through completely yet.
- Add the spices and mix till everything is coated. Add the tomato puree and mix well. And let it heat through for 2 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the date molasses and mix it through till everything is combined. Cook for another 3 minutes so the liquid reduces. At this pint if you cut through a chicken liver it should be cooked through.
Final touch:
- Mix the garlic, lemon juice and zest with the pomegranate molasses till combined and dissolve and pour over the livers in the pan. Mix a little bit and let it heat through for couple of minutes. When it starts to boil, lower the heat and simmer for just 1 minute. Turn off the heat and set aside to make the sandwiches.
My Serving suggestion:
- Open one sandwich bun and remove some of the insides. Spread some garlic paste on both insides. Add some chopped lettuce and tomato and add your chicken liver, then add some sweet potato fries (air fried) and close your sandwich. Toast it little bit in your sandwich grill.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Good quality chicken liver: you can find the chicken liver in supermarket but always try to fin a clean source of a trusted butcher to buy from better. They will clean it well so you don’t do a big mess at home and it always better to buy from good clean source. You ca cook them at the same day or the next day maximum. Storage: you can prepare those sandwiches in advance the night before and take them with you to work. And you can also prepare the livers and keep in fridge for up to 4 days and wrap the sandwich when you need to.