Shish Barak is a traditional Lebanese stew featuring hand-folded meat dumplings simmered in a creamy labneh (strained yogurt) broth infused with garlic, mint, and lemon. This comfort dish requires careful dumpling folding and gentle stirring to keep the yogurt sauce silky.
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Finely chop then sauté the onions with a bit of olive oil until they start turning translucent
Add the ground beef, 7-spices, salt, mix well and then sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes or until the beef is cooked
A couple of minutes before the meat is cooked, mix in the pine nuts and cook for a couple more minutes then let rest and cool down.
Mix the yeast in half a cup of warm water with a bit of sugar. Let rest for a few minutes.
Mix and knead the dough ingredients along with the yeast liquid in a bowl, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Place dough on a kitchen counter dusted with flour, and flatten with a dough roller into a large sheet the thickness of 2 coins (1/8th of an inch).
Using a water bottle lid (or small cookie cutter), cut the dough into disks the size of a quarter (3/4th of an inch in diameter)
Holding a dough disk flat with one hand, add 1/2 teaspoon of stuffing in the center.
Fold and close dough sides over the stuffing into a half moon shape. Then pull edges around and flatten the circumference to make it all look like a “hat”.
The idea here is to lock the stuffing properly and well inside of the dough. If you know of other methods or have some ravioli making tools, be creative.
Line up all the dumplings on a flour dusted plate
Pour 12 cups of water and 2 lb of labneh (strained yogurt) in a cooking pot, mix well until all Labneh is dissolved, then place on stove over medium-low heat and keep on stirring gently until it reaches a boil, at which time you turn the heat to low.
Mix in 2 crushed cloves of garlic.
Mix in the dried mint powder and dried cilantro leaves.
Add 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt (to taste).
Add juice from 1 freshly squeezed lemon. If you’re using goat yogurt you can skip this step.
Gently add the Shish Barak dumplings, bring the stew to a boil again, and then let simmer for 15-20 minutes on low heat while gently but constantly stirring.
Serve hot as a soup
Repeat the above steps but using 10 cups of plain yogurt with 2 cups of water instead of using Labneh. Be mindful that if using yogurt you need to stir very well for proper assimilation.
Written automatically by CookOS, not by the creator.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 3 days; reheat gently on low heat with frequent stirring to prevent yogurt breaking.
dough roller · water bottle lid or small cookie cutter (3/4-inch diameter)
Written automatically by CookOS, not by the creator.
Labneh is pre-strained and thicker, requiring 12 cups water mixed in. Regular yogurt uses 10 cups yogurt plus 2 cups water and needs vigorous stirring to prevent curdling. Both simmer 15–20 minutes on low heat.
After kneading with the yeast liquid, let the dough rest covered for 30 minutes. It should be smooth and elastic before flattening to 1/8-inch thickness on a floured counter.
Cut disks about 3/4 inch in diameter using a water bottle lid or small cookie cutter. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon of cooled meat mixture, then fold into a hat shape.
Prepare the dumplings and filling up to a few hours in advance and refrigerate on a floured plate. The yogurt stew is best made fresh, but leftovers keep refrigerated 2–3 days and reheat gently on low heat with stirring.
Constant gentle stirring prevents the yogurt from curdling and ensures the dumplings cook evenly without sticking to the pot bottom. Maintain low heat throughout simmering.
