Sabich: Street Food from Israel

Sabich or Sabih is popular street food in Israel. It is prepared with Pitta or Laffa bread, fried aubergine, hard-boiled eggs, chopped tomatoes, parsley and tahini. Cucumbers, coriander, hummus, cabbage and Israeli amba sauce round off this traditional recipe. There are many variations and here we present a version with Italian focaccia - homemade and wonderfully aromatic! By the way, you can enjoy Sabich at any time of day or night.

SABICH (for 4 to 6 people)

Ingredients for the tomato salad:

• 10 (or more) cherry tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 handful of fresh (or dried) coriander leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Sea salt to taste

Ingredients for fried aubergine:

• Rapeseed oil for frying
• 1 large aubergine
• Plain flour for dusting
• A pinch of sea salt

Ingredients for homemade focaccia:

• 500 g flour (all-purpose flour or pizza flour)
• 20 g sugar
• 10 g salt
• 5 g dry yeast
• 25 ml olive oil
• 340 ml water
• Coarse sea salt

Ingredients for 250 g flavourful tahini:

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 180 g tahini (you can purchase tahini here at Piccantino or your favourite healthy food store)
• 120ml of water

Ingredients for 100g amba sauce:

• 60 g preserved mango
• 20 ml water
• 20 ml rapeseed oil

Ingredients for 50 g zhug:

• 1 clove of garlic
• 7 g coriander (cilantro)
• 12 g parsley
• 1 fresh cayenne pepper (or other chilli of your choice)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt to taste
• 1 handful of fresh coriander leaves

Preparing focaccia - please make the dough on the previous day

1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. Add olive oil and water and knead by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook until you get a sticky dough.
Cover the bowl with cling film, prick twice with a fork and let the dough rise in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.

2. Dust some flour on the dough and transfer the dough to your work surface with the floured side facing down. Now for the folds - fold each side towards the middle and press it in. Keep turning the dough as you go. Once all the sides have been folded in, cover the dough and rest again for 30 minutes at room temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230°C.

3. Brush a baking sheet with olive oil. With oiled hands, carefully flatten the ball of dough onto the sheet. Use your fingers to make indentations on the surface of the dough and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake your focaccia for about 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Preparing the tomato salad

1. Halve or quarter the tomatoes and peel and finely chop the garlic. Also finely chop all the coriander leaves. Use dried coriander (also called cilantro) leaves if you don't have fresh ones.

2. Mix the garlic and coriander together with the olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl and season with salt.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and let the salad rest until you're ready to serve.

Preparing fried aubergine:

1. Peel the aubergines, cut lengthwise into strips or slices about 5 mm thick and dredge in flour.

2. Heat plenty of rapeseed oil in a deep saucepan and fry the slices in the hot oil until golden brown.

3. Remove the fried vegetables with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Salt to taste.

Preparing tahini:

1. Mix lemon juice, salt and water in a tall container.

2. Gradually incorporate the tahini (sesame paste) with an immersion blender until it is smooth and creamy.

Tip: If you prefer a more liquid texture, just add more water!

Preparing amba sauce

Blend all the ingredients for the sauce with an immersion blender until very smooth and creamy.

Preparing zhug:

1. Finely chop peeled garlic, coriander and parsley.

2. Halve the cayenne pepper, deseed and chop very finely.

3. Mix everything well, season with olive oil and salt to taste.

Tip: You can also roughly chop everything and then add to a blender or chopper to finely chop.

Preparing hard-boiled eggs:

Boil eggs for 6 ½ minutes. Then peel, halve or slice them and season with salt.

How to assemble your SABICH:

1. Spread some flavoured tahini and amba sauce on the focaccia.
2. Top with fried aubergine, eggs and tomato salad, season with zhug and garnish with a few more coriander leaves.

Cut the focaccia into conveniently sized pieces and serve with ice-cold lemonade, beer or juice spritzer. Enjoy!

This article was submitted by Eva, a member of Team Slovenia at Piccantino. Thank you, Eva!