Pan-Fried Liver with Red Onion Salad
In this dish, the liver is coated with flour, then fried in sizzling hot oil and served with a red onion salad.
About this Recipe
Pan-fried liver is such a quick and easy dish. In this truly delicious meal, the liver is coated with flour, then fried in sizzling hot oil and served with a red onion and parsley salad.
SERVES 3-4 AS MAIN
PREP TIME: 15 MINS
COOK TIME: 10 MINS
Although in Turkish it’s called Arnavut Ciğeri (lit. Albanian style liver), pan-fried liver is an essential part of Turkish cuisine. It is said that it gets its name from Albanians who once lived in the Ottoman Empire and consumed liver more than any other meal because it was ‘cheap’. Nowadays, it is usually served as a starter or cold appetiser in Turkish taverns or meyhanes, along with Turkish rakı, an anise-flavoured liquor mixed with ice and water. But you can have it in large portions too. In restaurants, it’s generally served with oven-baked cubes of potatoes.
Drum roll, please!!! I am about to reveal the top-secret to have a succulent liver with a silky soft texture – lokum gibi – like Turkish delight as we say in Turkey. The trick lies in frying it in plenty of sizzling hot oil for no more than a couple of minutes. It’s also essential to remove the membrane and veins. There you have it. Now you know my secret, go ahead and make this nutritious dish to share with your family.
Ingredients
Pan-Fried Liver
- 500 g fresh calf or lamb liver
- 100 g flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 400 ml rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (see note)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp thyme
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- A handful of flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
Red Onion Salad
- 1 big red onion, cut in half lengthways and thinly sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground sumac
- A handful of flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
As the liver needs to be served hot, start preparing the onion salad first.
Red Onion Salad:
Place the salt and thinly sliced onions in a bowl and massage them with your hands for a few minutes to get some of the juices out, discarding the juice. This will soften the onion and make it more palatable.
Step 2
Stir in ground sumac, molasses and chopped parsley. Toss it well and set aside.
Step 3
Pan-Fried Liver:
Put the liver in a sieve and let it sit for a couple of hours to get rid of any excess blood. If you don’t have time to do this step, you can pat the liver pieces dry with a kitchen paper towel.
Step 4
Cut the liver into small, 1 cm cubes, making sure removing any membrane or veins as these can become tough after cooking.
Step 5
Mix the bicarbonate of soda with flour and spread it on a tray. Toss the liver pieces in the flour until every bit of liver is lightly coated.
Step 6
In a deep, medium-sized pan, heat the oil. When it’s sizzling hot, add the liver in batches and cook on high heat for a 1.5 – 2 minutes max. The outside should be crispy, but not overcooked, and the inside soft.
Step 7
Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the pan, and drain on kitchen paper towel.
Step 8
Add cumin, red pepper flakes, thyme and toss it well. Season to taste and garnish with chopped parsley.
Step 9
Serve it hot with the onion salad on the side. Alternatively, you can make a bed out of the onion salad and place the liver on top. Oven-baked or sautéed cubes of potatoes go really well with the pan-fried liver as a side dish.
Notes
Red pepper flakes: These flakes have a moderate heat. You can find them in Turkish or Middle Eastern shops. Ground cayenne powder can be used as a substitute. Use half as much ground cayenne to achieve the same level of heat. You can find more information about this here.
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ÇOK GÜZEL GÖRÜNÜYOR BEN DE DENEYECEĞİM
Deneyin. Eminim seveceksiniz.
When my partner spied this recipe he didn’t expect me to cook it for him – I’m a veggie! I cooked it as a surprise for him, and found it nice and simple to prepare. Found the sumac and pomegranate molasses in our local natural food shop. Have used the molasses again for other dishes – never too late to learn new things! Thanks again Sonay…
Thank you Vik. I am glad you gave it a go and managed to find pomegranate molasses in your local shop. Both ingredients are used in Turkish cooking quite a lot. You can add them to your salads.
Had this for dinner one evening. My husband loved this dish. He prefers to the traditional English recipe. Easy and quick.