Barg Kabab — The Persian Lamb Filet That Belongs Next to Koubideh

Thinner than you think. Faster than you'd guess. Better than what you'll get at most kabab houses.

Barg kabab — barg means leaf — is lamb (or sometimes beef) filet, butterflied paper-thin, marinated in saffron and onion, and grilled fast over high heat. It's the third member of a proper Persian mixed grill platter: koubideh, jujeh, and barg.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 700 g lamb sirloin or tenderloin (or beef tenderloin if lamb isn't easy to find)
• 1 large yellow onion, grated, juice retained
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon saffron, bloomed in 3 tablespoons hot water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• To finish: 2 tablespoons butter, more saffron water

The cut and the slice

This is the make-or-break step. Take the lamb filet, slice across the grain into pieces about 3 inches wide and ½ inch thick. Now butterfly each piece — slice horizontally most of the way through so it opens like a book, then pound gently with the flat of a knife or a tenderizer until it's about ¼ inch thick.

Thin meat cooks fast and stays tender. Thick meat goes from raw to tough with nothing in between.

Method

1. Marinade

Combine grated onion (with juice), lemon, half the saffron water, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Add the butterflied lamb, turn to coat each piece. Refrigerate 3-6 hours. Not overnight — the lemon will eventually toughen the meat past the tipping point.

2. Skewer

Thread each butterflied piece onto a wide flat skewer through the middle — the meat should drape evenly over both sides. Push pieces close but not touching. Wide skewers matter here even more than for chicken: thin meat needs the surface to grip.

3. Grill

Charcoal, hot. 2 minutes per side, max. Turn once. Pull when the meat is firm but still pink in the middle. Brush with butter mixed with the remaining saffron water as you pull.

4. Plate

Saffron butter rice, koubideh, jujeh, barg arranged across the platter. Grilled tomato, sumac on the side, lemon wedges, fresh sabzi.

Why thin matters

Persian kababs are built around fast cooking — they get character from the marinade and the char, not from low-and-slow technique. Thick meat fights this. Thin meat embraces it. Butterfly your filet, don't skip it.

And the skewer matters too

Round bamboo skewers can't hold butterflied lamb — the meat slides off when you flip. Use the same 1-inch wide flat steel skewers you'd use for koubideh. Shop the set →

— The Arta Kitchen family