Chicken Shawarma

We have come across two different types of chicken shawarma: authentic shawarma and chicken wraps with a shawarma flavour. In the latter type, the chicken is almost always dry and the only thing it has in common with authentic shawarma is the spices that are used for marinating the chicken. The best shawarma is sliced off the cone and straight onto bread, and the meat is very moist and juicy.

There are many recipes for homemade chicken shawarma, each cook trying to recreate the shawarma that he/she is familiar with. We wanted to recreate the moist, juicy shawarma that we love so much. To achieve that, we knew the chicken had to be cooked in such a way that will sear and crisp the outside while preventing the chicken from releasing its moisture. We concluded that the best method was to broil the chicken for a short period of time.

Authentic shawarma also gets its moisture from the additional fat that is placed between the layers of meat and at the top of the cone. It was with that in mind that we decided to use skin-on chicken thighs. We slashed the skins to help them crisp up better and to also help render the fat. The result was succulent, crispy chicken that tasted amazing!

The challenge, however, was finding boneless, skin-on chicken thighs. All the places we are familiar with sell either boneless, skinless chicken or bone-in, skin-on chicken. We bought the latter type and deboned the chicken (watch the video for the easy step-by-step instructions on how to debone chicken thighs). Apart from bone-in chicken being cheaper, the bones were also a bonus. As the chicken was marinating, we prepared a great-tasting soup from the bones. We added some vegetables that were starting to wilt, a tomato, an onion, garlic cloves, and a handful of dried beans. The soup was so good that we might even make some more shawarma next week just so we can prepare that soup again.

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