Fried beef liver

Turkish fried beef liver (ciğer tava) is absolutely delicious! I can never resist these golden-brown cubes of liver that are shallow-fried until just tender. The sharpness of lemon juice and the heat of spices are the perfect counterpoints to the slightly sweet flesh of the fried beef liver.

this recipe

Plus this version of the traditional recipe, also called arnavut ciğeri (Albanian-style fried liver), is served with fried potatoes (and an onion or white bean salad if I have enough time), so it really feels like an amazing treat to have fried beef liver for dinner! If all of this is not enough to entice you to give offals a shot, I don’t know what will!

LONG LIVE OFFALS

Eating offals was a rare occurrence while growing up. My dad would not serve offals for dinner, but if some pieces ever came with the chicken and rabbits he bought to make stews he would never throw them. He would always pan-fry them in a bit of butter and serve them sprinkled liberally with salt and a good grind of black pepper. Simple but delicious. Living in Turkey for a few years really opened my eyes to whole new ways of cooking offals! Liver, brain, lungs and all but my favorite still remain this fried beef liver recipe.

TO COOK IT PAST MEDIUM OR TO NOT COOK IT PAST MEDIUM

Eating liver is genuinely good for you, nutrition-wise. Sure I’m frying mine, but oh well, fat is good for your taste buds-wise so you win some you lose some. Liver, like most offals, is also super cheap! Especially beef liver, as calf/veal and lamb livers can be a bit more pricey (but they are milder tasting so if you’re a beginner when it comes to offals, they might be a good option).

We can’t deny that liver has a bad rep, which in my opinion is totally unwarranted. It’s all due to people who overcook it. As a French cook, I feel the need to say that you shouldn’t cook liver past medium or it will become tough. You need some pink in there. I would err on the side of caution and undercooked (the residual heat keeps on cooking the liver once removed from the pan). I would suggest being attentive while frying. Don’t hesitate to cut a piece of fried beef liver to check the color inside, because in seconds the flesh can turn from moussy pink tones to grey. And when cooked liver ends up grey, no amount of lemon juice, spices and tasty side dishes will hide its grainy rubbery texture.

However, this is a Turkish recipe and if you happened to serve offal with still a little bit of pink in there to a Turkish person they will absolutely not eat it. So to be truthful to Turkish fried beef liver, the cooking times reflected in the recipe are for liver cooked the way it would be in Turkey (definitely well-done). If you want medium-cooked fried beef liver, I would fry the pieces for 15 seconds less.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CIĞER

Shopping at the bazaar can be a tiring business and taking a break to restore yourself with a tiny cup of tea, coffee, or salep (an unctuous warm milk-based beverage made from orchid tubers) is pretty much de rigueur. But taking the time to stop to have a bite is what was really motivating me to actually go to the bazaar in the first place (I don’t like crowds). I would sometimes try a new place to eat with my friends, but there were spots I loved to go to.

One particular place was a tiny tiny restaurant on the outskirts of Kemeralti bazaar that I would have totally overlooked if it wasn’t for my in-laws. They took me there one day as they were regular patrons and that’s where I first tasted Turkish fried beef liver! This family-owned restaurant only served fried beef liver, more specifically the yaprak ciğer kind. Yaprak ciğer is a specialty from Edirne (a city located in the northwest of Turkey, neighboring Greece & Bulgaria) where the owner was from. You can read more about the restaurant here.

The main difference with yaprak (leaf) ciğer is that the offal is cut very thinly before being cooked. We’re talking 5mm (⅕ in) thin, even thinner than that if you can. I don’t have the patience to cut the liver so thinly and I also find yaprak ciğer to be more difficult to cook. They are so thin that they cook quite quickly, not leaving you much wiggle room. If you want to make yaprak ciğer, slice the meat as thinly as possible and cook the fried beef liver for no more than 45 seconds to 1 min maximum.

STEPS

🠒 FIRST PREPARE THE POTATOES

1. Dice the peeled potatoes into 1.5cm (⅔ in) cubes.
2. Soak them in cold water for 30 min in a large bowl. Drain and dry them thoroughly.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat to 170°C (340°F). Fry the potatoes, in 2 batches, until tender with a crisp exterior, about 8 min.
4. Transfer the cubed potatoes to a plate lined with several layers of paper towels.

🠒 NEXT PREPARE THE LIVER

1. Mix the flour, salt, cumin and black pepper in a large bowl.
2. Slice the liver into 3cm (1 in) pieces, about 1.5cm (⅔ in) thick.
3. Toss the liver slices in the seasoned flour until coated.
4. Shake off the excess flour.

🠒 LASTLY, FRY THE LIVER

1. Make sure the oil is still at 170°C (340°F). Fry the liver, in 2 batches, for 1 min 15. They will darken and get crispy corners.
2. Using a slotted spoon remove the fried beef liver from the pan to a serving dish lined with paper towels.

THE MILK HACK

To soften the taste of liver you can soak the slices of liver in a large bowl filled with 500ml (2 cups) of milk for 2h (or up to 24h). This will drain excess blood and remove part of the liver’s bitterness. Drain and pat dry thoroughly before coating the slices with the seasoned flour and frying. To be perfectly frank, in my experience this step has never converted a liver-hater into someone who could actually enjoy fried beef liver. And I’ve tried it with many of my friends. Liver is still liver in the end. I quite enjoy the taste of it so now I skip that soaking step altogether.

Turkish fried beef liver is often topped with whole dried red chilies that have been fried for a few seconds. I only bit into one once, and I’m still mad at my husband for coaxing me into it. You can try it at your own risk but I’ll advise having plenty of ayran (a yogurt-based drink) close at hand to cool things down.

GREENISH TINT

Beef liver can turn green due to bile leaching out from the gallbladder or due to oxidation (liver coming into contact with oxygen). It might not look aesthetically pleasing but your liver will still be safe to eat! As long as your liver is fresh (don’t let it stand in the fridge for more than 48h before cooking), firm (as firm as that jiggly organ can be) and doesn’t smell like rotten eggs, you’ll be fine!

FRESH IS BEST

Fried beef liver can be frozen in as much as you can technically stick anything in your freezer. However, the texture will turn crumblier once thawed. And since there is no way of properly reheating the fried beef liver without causing it to overcook I wouldn’t bother. You could eat the thawed chopped liver cold in salads or blitz it to make liver pâté but as it wouldn’t make optimum salads or pâté I wouldn’t bother with freezing.

Looking for other Turkish meat dishes? Here are some of my favorites:

• Spiced chickpea stew
• Turkish stuffed eggplants
• Kızartma (Fry up with meatballs)

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