Adana and Diyarbakir street food · Grilled fast

Turkish Liver Shish Kebab Recipe (Ciger Sis)

Tender liver. Hot and fast. Sumac onions.

Recipe by Farwa ZeeshanTested in the NineFoods home kitchen

Liver turns grey, tough and bitter when it cooks slowly. Turkish ciger sis is the opposite: small cubes threaded with lamb fat and grilled over very hot coals for only a few minutes, so the outside sears and the inside stays pink and soft. Soaking the liver in milk first also softens its strong taste.

Prep + soak40m

Cook6m

Servings4

kcal / serving320

LevelEasy

Jump to the method

The 3 laws of ciger sis

Why this recipe works

Milk soak

Strong, raw taste

30 minutes in milk softens the flavour.

Small cubes

Large chunks

2 cm cubes cook through in minutes.

Very hot

Medium grill

Fast, fierce heat keeps the inside tender.

Shopping and prep list

Ingredients

Servings

Tap items as you gather them · 0 of 0 ready

Liver

fresh lamb liver, membrane removed, 2 cm cubes
milk for soaking
lamb tail fat or butter, small cubes

Seasoning

salt (add after cooking)
cumin, chilli flakes
olive oil

To serve

red onion, sliced, with sumac and parsley
Lavash bread, grilled peppers and tomatoes
Lemon wedges

The NineFoods liver doneness check

Is the liver cooked right?

Cut one cube open after grilling. Tap the colour inside.

Tap a stage to see what to do.

Method · 4 stages

Step by step

Soak in milk

No heat · 30 min

Soak the liver cubes in milk for 30 minutes.
Drain and pat completely dry.

Look for: liver paler and dry on the surface.

30:00

Thread

No heat · 8 min

Toss with oil, cumin and chilli (no salt yet).
Thread on skewers, alternating with small cubes of fat.

Look for: liver and fat alternating, not packed.

08:00

Grill fast

Very high · 5 min

Grill over very hot coals or a smoking grill pan, turning every minute. Use the gauge above.

Look for: seared outside, sizzling fat.

05:00

Salt and serve

Serve · 1 min

Salt right after grilling.
Serve in lavash with sumac onions, peppers and lemon.

Look for: glossy, juicy liver on bread.

01:00

Chef's troubleshooter

What went wrong? Pick the symptom

Why

Cooked too slowly or too long.

Fix next time

Grill very hot for 4 to 5 minutes in total.

Why

Membrane left on, or no milk soak.

Fix next time

Remove the membrane and soak in milk 30 minutes.

Why

No fat between pieces.

Fix next time

Thread lamb fat or brush with butter.

Why

Salted before grilling.

Fix next time

Salt only after cooking.

Why

Liver wet or grill not hot.

Fix next time

Pat dry and preheat until very hot.

Swap smart

Ingredient roles and substitutes

Ingredient	Job in the dish	Swap with
Lamb liver	Mild, tender	Calf liver
Tail fat	Self-basting	Butter brushed on
Milk soak	Mellows flavour	Buttermilk
Coal grill	Smoky sear	Cast-iron pan
Sumac	Tangy onions	Lemon juice

After the meal

Serve, store, reheat

Serve with

Sumac onions, grilled peppers, lavash and ayran.

Store

Best eaten immediately.

Reheat

Not recommended. Liver toughens when reheated.

How we tested this recipe

Tested in a home kitchen, not a studio

Recipe developed and tested by Farwa Zeeshan, who cooks and tests every NineFoods recipe on a regular home stove.

Cooked from start to finish with the exact quantities above for 4 servings, using both the metric and US cup measures.
Every one of the 4 stages was timed at the stove; heat levels and the 'look for' cues are what we saw in the pan.
The doneness check (is the liver cooked right) and the troubleshooter come from batches that went wrong, and how we fixed them.
Reheating and storage advice was checked on leftovers, not guessed.

Read our full testing process

Keep cooking