Tzhvzhik

Ingredients

Offal

• 400 gbeef or lamb liver, membrane peeled off, cut into 2 cm pieces
• 200 glamb heart, trimmed and diced
• 200 glamb kidney, cored and diced (optional)
• 500 mlcold milk or salted water for soaking

Pan

• 3 tbsplamb tail fat, rendered, or 40 g butter with 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3large onions, sliced into half moons
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 1 tsppaprika
• ½ tspground cumin
• 1.5 tspsalt, added only at the end

To finish

• 1large bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tbspsumac, or the juice of half a lemon
• warm lavash and raw onion rings to serve

Directions

1. Soak the liver in cold milk or salted water for an hour to draw out the blood and soften the metallic edge, then drain and pat every piece completely dry.
2. Peel the thin silvery membrane off the liver with your fingers; if it stays on it shrinks in the pan and curls the pieces into rubber.
3. Render the tail fat in a wide heavy pan over high heat until it is shimmering and just smoking.
4. Fry the heart and kidney first for 4 to 5 minutes, since they are tougher and take longer, tossing until browned and firm, then lift them out.
5. Turn the heat to its highest and fry the liver in a single uncrowded layer for 90 seconds a side, until deeply browned outside and still faintly pink within; crowding the pan steams it grey.
6. Lift the liver out, add the onions to the fat left behind and fry over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are soft, brown at the edges and have picked up every scrap of stuck fond.
7. Return all the offal to the pan, add the pepper, paprika and cumin, and toss hard over high heat for 2 minutes so the spices toast in the fat. Salt only now, at the end.
8. Take it off the heat, throw in the parsley and sumac, toss once, and serve straight from the pan while it is spitting hot, with lavash to scoop and raw onion alongside.

Technique

• Salt early and the liver weeps and turns tough and grainy. Every Armenian cook adds it in the last minute, which is the single technique that makes or breaks the dish.
• The name is onomatopoeic, imitating the sizzle in the pan, so the heat has to be genuinely high; this is not a slow braise.
• It is a Gyumri and Lori speciality, sold in cheap taverns and eaten hot with lavash and a glass of vodka, and it must be eaten immediately, because reheated liver goes to leather.
• Recipes are disputed on the offal mix: some households use liver alone, others insist on liver, heart, lung and kidney together.

Substitutions

• No lamb tail fat: butter with a little oil gives a similar richness, though it lacks the mutton depth; beef dripping is the next best thing.
• Chicken livers can stand in for a milder, quicker version, needing only 60 seconds a side.
• Sumac is the traditional souring agent, but pomegranate molasses gives the same sour-sweet lift.

Variations

• A tomato version adds two diced tomatoes with the onions and cooks down to a looser sauce.
• Some cooks finish with a splash of vodka or oghi off the heat to cut the richness.
• In Javakhk it is served over sliced potatoes fried in the same fat.

History

A rustic dish whose name imitates the sizzling of the fat in the pan.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tzhvzhik?

Tzhvzhik is a main from Armenia: liver and offal fried hard with onion, eaten hot with lavash and vodka. A rustic dish whose name imitates the sizzling of the fat in the pan.

How long does Tzhvzhik take to make?

Tzhvzhik takes 20 min plus 1 hr soaking of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tzhvzhik?

Yes, within limits. No lamb tail fat: butter with a little oil gives a similar richness, though it lacks the mutton depth; beef dripping is the next best thing. Chicken livers can stand in for a milder, quicker version, needing only 60 seconds a side. Sumac is the traditional souring agent, but pomegranate molasses gives the same sour-sweet lift.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tzhvzhik?

It is a Gyumri and Lori speciality, sold in cheap taverns and eaten hot with lavash and a glass of vodka, and it must be eaten immediately, because reheated liver goes to leather.