Beef Shawarma DIY Recipe

My friend, who is roughly at the same level of cooking skills as me (so let’s call her a beginner haha) recommended this Shawarma Recipe to me. In her words – it is ridiculously simple but very yummy. Well, those are the two magic words for me! So today, I decided to whip up Beef Shawarma. And let me tell you, it’s really really good.

DELECTABLE DISH FOR THE DAY: BEEF SHAWARMA

DIFFICULTY: Easy

SERVING SIZE: Good for 5 people

PREP TIME: 30 minutes (the chopping takes up so much of my time!! I need a faster way to mince garlic)

COOK TIME: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS FOR BEEF SHAWARMA

For the beef toppings and pita

1kg ground beef (I suspect you can make do with less, but my family is made up of hungry eaters)
12 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp oyster sauce
6 tbsp brown sugar
20 pcs tortilla wrap

For the vegetable toppings

1 cucumber, sliced
6 tomatoes, sliced
2 onions, sliced

For the garlic mayo sauce

220ml mayonnaise
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup water

STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO MAKE BEEF SHAWARMA

Cook the beef

Mince 16 cloves of garlic (12 cloves for the beef, 4 cloves for the sauce). This took me 20+ minutes to mince. How to speed things up, seriously?!

Add a dash of oil to the pan, then sauté the 12 cloves of garlic over medium high heat until lightly toasted

Add 1kg ground beef and set flame to high heat. Sauté until the ground beef is cooked (no longer pink)

Then, add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 4 tbsp oyster sauce, 6 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly
Continue sautéing the beef until fully caramelized. It is incredibly tempting to stop mid-way but resist temptation and don’t stop until the beef has caramelized…

Once caramelized, strain the excess oil from the beef, because otherwise it’s a bit disgusting to be honest. Waaay too much oil

Prepare the vegetables, garlic mayo sauce, and tortilla

Slice the cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion
In a bowl, add 220ml mayonnaise (essentially the equivalent of 1 Lady’s Choice mayonnaise), 1 tbsp white vinegar, 4 cloves minced garlic, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 cup water. Then, mix thoroughly

Supposedly, afterwards, you should strain out the garlic bits. BUT, I spent such a long time mincing those garlic, I decided to hell with it. We are eating those garlic! So I didn’t bother straining haha! Whatever, it was still pretty good.