Mloukhiyeh
There was always an event built around the Mloukhiyeh. You would never have it for yourself, or your small family group of 3 or 4. If Mloukhiyeh was on the menu, it meant it was in season, including an enormous amount of green leaves to clean and prepare. The obvious conclusion implied people were coming over to enjoy it with you. A least your extended family, plus some! Traditions combined with the generosity of the Lebanese table yielded to outrageous amounts of food, clarifying what you always suspected: They don’t know how to cook for 1.
One sea and an ocean away, I had to succumb to my cravings and prepare Mloukhiyeh at home, in the tropics, for 4.
This is the version I make often, with the shortcuts that fit my needs and achieve delicious results.
Mloukhiyeh is both the name of the green leaves used in this recipe and the name of the dish. You can write it in different ways and it has different names. The most common ones are: molokhia, mulukhiya, molokiya, jew’s mallow, and jute mallow. It is in season during summer months. To have this dish any time of the year and in parts of the world where fresh jute mallow is not available I use frozen Egyptian molokhia leaves. You will find them in the freezer section of the Middle Eastern grocery store, chopped (minced) or whole. Use the version that you prefer. I like the whole leaves; it gives a better consistency to the dish and you can see the actual leaves! The minced ones are just too tiny and not appealing for me… plus they tend to be slimier once cooked.
The Mloukhiyeh is a green leaf stew, served with meat (I prepare it with roasted chicken and lamb), over white rice, topped with vinegar marinated onions and crumbled pita chips for an added crunch. I will describe every section of the recipe by itself, in case you need to adjust it to your likings.
For the green leaf stew part of this recipe, I use both lamb and chicken stocks. I usually have chicken stock, portioned in cups and ready for use in the freezer or rely on a last minute “better than bouillon” save. Since chicken broth is way more easy to find at your local supermarket, I will only give you the lamb broth recipe. I also added a “major shortcut” section in case you want to skip the lamb meat and stock.
When cooked with fresh mloukhiyeh leaves, the stew will have a brighter green. Don’t let the visual hues discourage you. The taste is going to be as comforting and happy food memory triggering as your dreams.
Mloukhiyeh
Recipe credits: Rafaella Sargi
Serves 4 to 6 persons.
Ingredients for the ONION TOPPING
1 large onion, finely chopped (makes a total of 2 cups)
1 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (you can replace it with lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Directions for the ONION TOPPING
You will need one medium bowl and food safe plastic wrap.
Vinegar or Lemon Juice; everything is debatable. You can chose to marinate the small diced onion in apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar or in lemon juice. It is up to you really. I prefer the apple cider vinegar version but all are equally good.
In a medium bowl, pour the vinegar, and the ground coriander and mix. Add the small diced onion and mix again. You want the onions pieces to be fully submerged by the vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge until the stew is ready to be served. You can make this step up to 2 days in advance.
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Ingredients for the LAMB (meat + stock)
2 lamb shanks (bone in) pat dry and salted
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
8 cups of water
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole black peppercorns
1 garlic clove, peeled
Directions for the LAMB (meat + stock)
You will need on big pot with a lid, a strainer, a shallow plate, a small baking dish and some aluminum foil.
We are going to cook the meat and stock. In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, add the salted lamb shanks and sear for a few minutes on all sides. You are looking for a light sear / browning as it will give a better flavor to the final product. Add 8 cups of water, the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, black pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil. Remove the “foam” with a little strainer... Turn down the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 3 1/2 hours, checking every 30 minutes for the water level. I know! It’s a long time but your patience will be rewarded. The meat will fall off the bone and the stock will be rich and flavorful.
Remove the pot from the stove. Working with one shank at a time, place a cooked lamb shank on a plate (not directly on the cutting board, it is wet and will make a mess!) and strip the meat off the bones, discarding cartilage, connective tissue etc… Place the meat in a small baking dish.
Strain the lamb stock through a fine mesh strainer, discarding the spices etc… Keep 4 cups of the stock aside, and cover the cooked meat with some of the remaining stock to prevent the meat from drying out. Good news! A major part of your recipe is done! :)
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Ingredients for the CHICKEN
4 whole chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
Sea salt
Directions for the CHICKEN
You will need a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
I really dislike boiled chicken. We won’t have boiled chicken, no matter what other recipes call for, not even your mom’s suggestion. Nope. We will roast the chicken, the naked way! Ha… I have your attention now. Great! What I call naked chicken, is just chicken with salt,… in the oven. 2 ingredients: chicken and salt. Voila…
Heat the oven to 420F / 215C.
Place the chicken thighs, skin side up, and sprinkle them GENEROUSLY with sea salt. Roast in a hot oven for approximately 40 minutes. You want the skin to be golden, crispy and the chicken to be cooked through. This is an estimate, of course, and the roasting time might depend on the size of the thighs and if they were cold before going in the oven. It’s not a big deal, just be attentive and adjust the timing accordingly. The chicken should be golden crispy!
Remove the skin and debone the chicken. Keep the cooked chicken pieces in the same baking dish as the cooked lamb. You won’t need the crunchy chicken skin for the recipe, go ahead,… enjoy it while it’s hot!! Hahaha
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Ingredients for the MLOUKHIYEH (stew)
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
2 big garlic cloves
Sea salt
2 teaspoons ghee (you can substitute with olive oil)
4 cups homemade lamb stock
3 cups chicken stock (if you have homemade it’s always better, but you can use store-bought.)
800 g Mloukhiyeh leaves, frozen (also called Jews Mallow, Jute Mallow,
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Sea salt
Plain cooked white rice for serving
Grilled pita bread or pita chips for serving
Directions for the MLOUKHIYEH (stew)
Now that the proteins are taken care of and the broth is rich and flavorful, let’s assemble the soup part and eat! You will need one large pot and a mortar and pestle.
In a small mixer (or using a mortar and pestle mix the cilantro with the garlic and a pinch of sea salt. Set aside.
In a large pot melt the ghee then ad the cilantro garlic mixture. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the lamb and chicken stocks. Mix well and bring to a boil. Add the frozen Mloukhiyeh leaves, turn the heat to medium and let them cook and “relax” in the hot liquids. Once the leaves are melted and detached, season with ground allspice and sea salt then mix and let the soup simmer for a few minutes.
Be careful about the salt amount, specially if you are using store bought chicken stock as they tend to be very salty. Taste before adding salt. Remember, you can always add, a little at a time; removing salt is only truly possible if you are a magician.
Serve hot over white rice, a few pieces of lamb an chicken, on or two large laddles of hot mloukiyeh stew, top it with vinegar marinated onions and crumbles pita chips.
Sahtein! ;)
—MAJOR MLOUKHIYEH SHORTCUT TIP!—
Skip the lamb and stock part and make it a chicken only version. You will need 7 cups of chicken broth in total. Make sure to plan for enough roasted chicken… I would say, I whole chicken thigh per person, as an average. See? I am giving you many options, because I know you are craving this dish and I really want to help answer your “I want mom’s Mloukhiyeh” requests.
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*A note on broth and stock: Don’t get confused by “broth” and “stock”; you will be fine using both! Of course there are some technical differences: the stock cooks for a long period of time (6 + hours), includes bones and will jellify once cold. The broth is lighter, cooks with meat for a shorter period of time (1 to 2 hours depending on the recipe) and stays liquid once cold. For your daily home-cook use, you can easily use whatever you have on hand. No big deal…
The way I usually prepare my chicken stocks: After roasting a whole chicken, or even pieces, I keep the bones and carcass put it all in a large pot, add water, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 garlic cloves, 1 cinnamon stick (Kiki’s trick to remove gaminess), 2 bay leaves, 2 parsley sprigs, 1 thyme sprigs, 5 whole black pepper corns, and sea salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to a slow and steady simmer, cover and let cook for 4 hours. Filter the liquids through a fine mesh strainer. Discard all herbs, vegetables and spices. Portion the stock into 1 cup containers and let cool in the fridge. Label and then freeze. My preparation is between a broth and a stock… and all is good! ;)
