-My name is Ayesha Nurdjaja. I am the executive chef of Shuka and the new restaurant Shukette
in Chelsea. Today I'm here to make
shakshuka. To me, this is, like, one of
the most influential dishes of the Middle East. And basically,
it's a spiced tomato sauce where we braise eggs in it,
but it's one of those recipes that you could really
make your own with any of your favorite
vegetables or none at all. So how could we start
any good recipe without some garlic, onions,
and jalapeño? And we're gonna put a good
amount of olive oil in here. I would say enough to cover the
bottom, 4 or 5 tablespoons. Put this on
a little hotter here. Put the onions in here. Okay, throw some garlic
in there And this is a rustic dish. I mean, we're not
looking for precision. We're looking for flavor.
I like it spicy. So I'm gonna use
this whole thing, and I'm not gonna
take the seeds out. I am gonna quarter it so that
while we're eating this, we don't get really huge
chunks of pepper in here. The other thing I like to do
is while we're layering these flavors,
is use herbs in the beginning. So here I have a small bunch
of cilantro and parsley. And I know a lot of people
like to use herbs at the end 'cause they like
to retain the freshness. But each of these herbs -- they impart flavor
from the beginning. So this is a good part to use,
like, really chop your stems really thinly
and get them in the pot so we're not wasting anything
and really building flavors. I'm gonna cut the leaves. I'm gonna separate
the leaves and the stems because I'm gonna cut
the stems smaller and just ball up these herbs and kind of get them
finely chopped in here. I love basil. I really -- I love all
marjoram, tarragon. You name it, I'm into it. Herbs, for me, plays such
an important role for freshness, and I just love how they each
have their own, like, perfume or herbaceous flavor. Now we're gonna start
with our spices. I happen to love
this mélange of spices, but you could use your own. So here I have turmeric, which is good for inflammation,
color, and deliciousness. Ground ginger, which I think is
a really underutilized spice. This is smoked paprika,
which I love. And here we have
a little bit of cumin because I think
when you're cooking in the Middle East
or North Africa or Israeli cooking or whatever,
cumin is king. And this is one
of my personal favorites, which is coriander,
which is the seed of cilantro. So that would make sense. [ Sniffs] Ah! It smells like the day
at The Souk right now, you know when they have
those pyramids of spices? Gonna add some salt. I'm gonna add
a good amount of salt. I haven't lost my mind.
I know you're thinking that. But we're gonna add
two cans of tomato here. And that's really gonna
help season that up. So it's starting to stick
at the bottom. And that, to me, is a sign
that they're really giving their all to you. And now we have to give it
a little bit of liquid. So I'm gonna add
the first can of tomatoes. These happen to be
pureed tomatoes, but if you like crushed
tomatoes, that's fine. So we have all of
our key players in here in this base
of a shakshuka sauce. So we're gonna bring this
to a boil. Act nice. We're filming.
Thank you very much. And we're gonna let this simmer
for about 45 minutes. So this is the perfect part when
you have your sauce simmering and you're waiting,
to think about, what am I going to
put into my shakshuka? So here we have some cherry
tomatoes, some plum tomatoes. Maybe there's San Marzano. I mean, these eggplant --
I'll sell these to you if you want right now,
$35 a pound. And these gorgeous peppers. So I actually think
I'm gonna use all three because I can't choose,
and what I would like to do is just take these peppers. I'm gonna get them on a little
bit of a sheet tray here, give them a little showering
of gorgeous olive oil and some salt action. And then we're gonna put
these in a salamander. So we just want to blister them. We're not, like, cooking --
overcooking them. I'll check them in a minute
or two just to turn them just to get their skin softened. And then what I'm gonna do,
I think is, I mean, I live on olive oil. I'm hoping it's like my
Benjamin Button kind of elixir. I'm gonna take
a little bit of the stem off, but I like
this little piece here, and I'm gonna
cut these in half. What I would like to do
is have all these vegetables cooked at different textures, but these eggplant
I would like to cook. And right here what I'm doing
is scoring them. I was very fortunate. I grew up in --
and my mom's Italian and my dad is Indonesian. Both excellent, excellent cooks. And I was, like, the resident
eater of the home. I moved out when I was 19, and I started to watch
Lidia Bastianich on television and I was like,
"I'm gonna work for her." And I started to cook
what she would cook. And that's when I really decided
to go to culinary school, 'cause I felt, like, some type
of magnetic pulse of when I was cooking
was just, like, something that I knew
that I really wanted to do. So we have our eggplant here. I'm just gonna lower this
just a tad bit and check up on our peppers,
'cause they are singing. And, of course, if you don't
have these gorgeous peppers, big red peppers
will do the trick. Okay, tomato time. The other thing that's also good
for you to know is you don't have to have
this 45-minute situation. It could be made much sooner
in a really easy way. Just take your garlic,
your onion, any kind of
ready-made tomato sauce, and throw your eggs
directly in there. So I'm gonna
put that in there. I'm gonna add some salt,
a little bit of olive oil. I'm gonna take
those peppers out. They're beautiful,
so they're just really slightly charred,
as you can see. I'm gonna take another
clove of garlic and loosen up the skin. I'm gonna mircroplane
some garlic on here and then put that in here, a little bit of parsley. So I think that people
really think about shakshuka as a breakfast
or brunch dish. At Shuka, I think
on a Saturday or a Sunday, we sell about 150 shakshuka. Everybody just wants
shakshuka. So we're almost there. Starting to get some color,
starting to soften up. And we're gonna cook this
3/4 of the way on this -- on the cut-surface side and then just a little bit on
the other side before we start. So I'm gonna cut these
in about one-inch pieces because I want
to taste this pepper once we put it in there. It certainly is getting
nice and golden brown. So our eggplant are ready to go, and I think we're ready
to layer up our shakshuka. We have our tomatoes,
our peppers, the beautiful-looking
baby eggplant, and I'm gonna take this pan. Now, this obviously
is the ideal pan -- something that's low
and shallow. I actually happen to
love the paella pan. I'm gonna put some sauce
right here on the bottom. So we have our pot on,
or pan on, I should say. And although this dish
is about the sauce, you have to really have, like,
a good ratio of everything. So the egg shouldn't be, like,
drowning in the sauce. It should just be enough sauce
that when you make a well, that you can stick the egg
directly down on there. So what we're gonna do
is to start to make the well. And I like to do it
before I add the eggs, just to plot out
where I'm gonna go, 'cause when you crack the egg,
you have nowhere to go. And if you want to act
like a fancy-pan chef, you're gonna crack it
right on the side here and then you're gonna open it
and put it directly in the well. Now, if you want to be a little
more cautious and smart, probably take a small bowl
and crack your egg in here, okay, 'cause this will
really help you. And then you gonna take
the same spoon, and you're gonna make
that well again, and then you'll pour the egg
right in there. So at this point,
you really want to keep the sauce at a low heat
for two reasons. One -- it starts to bubble up
and kind of spit back at you, and a little hot sauce
on the skin is never pleasurable. But it also gives the eggs
a chance to nestle in into their little
cocoon of sauce. As always, we want to season
as we go, so just a little bit of salt. My mother's gasping right now
as she's watching this. Um, she thinks I use
way too much salt, but she uses none, so there
really is no compromise. A little bit of black pepper
on top of there. And now we're gonna do
the vegetables, so I'm gonna take
some of these peppers. Now, the beauty
of the shakshuka, right, is that we're gonna
rip and dip. So each little bite should have
some kind of vegetable in it. And we're gonna take the
eggplant. We're gonna put them in there. So these eggplant
are really tender. They're cooked 99% of the way, but we're just gonna
put them in here so that they can marry
with the sauce, live a beautiful life together. You kinda want the whites
to be cooked 3/4 of the way
before you put it into the oven, because if you let it go
any less than that, it'll take too much time
in the oven, and then the bottom
of the egg won't be runny. The other thing is,
is I try to tell people this when they want
the eggs well done. It's very much to your benefit to cook the eggs well done
in a pan and then transfer them
to the sauce, because what you don't
want to do is ever burn the bottom
of the sauce. And by the time it takes
the egg to cook all the way through, the sauce
has a bitterness to it that you want to avoid. But we want runny eggs.
We want to rip and dip. So as the self-proclaimed
herb queen, it wouldn't be a dish unless
we finished it with some herbs. Here's some cilantro
and parsley. Mint goes well in here as well. I love cheese. Cheese and shakshuka,
I think, are best friends. Some people think
it's blasphemy, but I love to crumble
a little feta at the end because I think that
the hot sauce kind of, like, lets it melts. These herbs are really
beautiful. Thank you. And I'm not afraid of any stems.
I hope that you're not. And we are going to
cut these herbs so that we're all ready
when this comes out to garnish and rip and dip. So our herbs are ready. We have our marinated tomatoes,
and I left them out of here because I want that pop
of these gorgeous Sungolds and baby heirloom tomatoes. And then I'm gonna
crumble this. And as you can see, we're 3/4 of the way
through here, so I'm gonna take this over
to the stove, put it in there for probably
two or three minutes at 350 degrees, and we're getting ready to eat. [ Sighs ] Few things make me
really excited, but when this
comes out of the oven, I mean, bam, deliciousness. Okay, so we're gonna finish
this shakshuka. Right here we have
those marinated tomatoes with a little bit of garlic. I did a little bit of parsley that's gonna add, like,
nice freshness to it. We're not trying to cover up
the yolks or any of the other cast members
here of our show. We're just trying to, you know, make it better,
more delicious. I'm gonna do some of this
beautiful feta here, and I just like a big pieces. It doesn't have to
be perfect, okay? And, again, this is not, like,
a cheesy dish, but don't want it
to cheese all over. You just want to have bites
of it here and there. And then I'm gonna finish it
with some chopped herbs. I'm gonna take
some of this olive oil that's been marinating. And I think that we're ready to rip and dip
into this shakshuka. So here we are
at the moment of truth, and because
we layered so nicely, I think the first thing you want
to do is just go directly down into that oozy yolk,
which we're getting here, getting a little bit
of the feta. I'm just gonna use a spoon so that I could get
some of this on here. Ooh, yeah, that is the bite. ♪♪ Sometimes you have to do
a two-step in silence when it's that good. I mean,
it's really delicious, guys. I'm getting, like,
bright hits of acid from the tomato,
a little bit of the raw garlic. And then there's this, like,
silky, beautiful flavor
of the eggplant. And I think the feta at the end
just gives it, like, a little bit of, like,
gilding the lily on top. So don't forget, for the recipe
for this shakshuka, click the link below,
and come visit me at Shuka or Shukette. Am I still okay?
Not sweaty? -No, you look beautiful. -Oh, thank you.
I'm gonna stay here all day. I'll do the other chef's recipe,
too, don't worry. [ Laughter ]
-It's cheesesteak. -Oh my goodness. Don't even.
I had a really bad White House Subs
in Atlantic City. -I love Atlantic City.
-Me too. It's, like, the perfect place
to be grimy and still classy
at the same time, with the hope
that you win money. I mean, what a combo.
