Street Food · Grilled Skewer

Kabab Koobideh

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Kabab koobideh's ridged shape comes from being hand-pressed flat onto a wide skewer — a bit of showmanship that keeps the loose ground meat from ever falling into the coals.

Koobideh is a kabab of seasoned ground lamb or beef, mixed with grated onion, then molded by hand onto flat metal skewers and grilled over charcoal. Sold at kabab stalls throughout Iran, with grilled tomato and buttered saffron rice, or tucked into flatbread.

Why it's made this way: Skewer-grilling ground meat over open coals is a longstanding technique in Persian cooking, and pressing it onto a flat, wide skewer keeps the seasoned meat intact while it cooks quickly.