Toum Recipe for the Middle Eastern Garlic Sauce
This toum recipe makes toumeya, the garlic sauce from the Middle East that's slathered onto chicken shawarma and eaten with shish tawook, just like your favourite Arabic restaurant makes it. Traditionally made with a mortar and pestle, chefs make toum in a food processor or blender these days. You can too – especially if you don’t live in the Middle East and don't have a Lebanese restaurant on every corner This should make you a 250 ml jar of the addictively delicious condiment, which will last from a few days if you use an egg white to months if you don't.
Servings: 2 Cups
Calories: 239kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 garlic cloves peeled, trimmed, germs removed
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 1 egg white optional
- 1 lemon juice only (fresh is essential), divided; use less or add more if needed, to your taste
- 3 tbsp neutral oil divided; add more if needed; use sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, avocado oil, or a light olive oil
Instructions
- First prep the garlic bulb (garlic head), which should give you around 12 garlic cloves: peel and trim the garlic cloves, slice them in half, and use a paring knife to remove the green germ from their centres. See notes for more important tips.
- Pound the halved garlic cloves with a pestle in a mortar or use the base of the mortar to crush the garlic cloves on a cutting board.
- To a small food processor or blender with a fill cap and hole in the lid, add the pounded garlic cloves, a quarter teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of oil, and blend on low until you get a smooth consistency. Note: If you’re using the optional egg white, which will give you a foolproof toum, add it after the oil.
- Leaving the food processor still running, remove the cap from the lid and alternate between slowly* trickling in a little lemon juice through the hole, then a little oil, then a little lemon juice, then a little more oil, and blend until emulsified and the texture is so light and creamy that it’s almost fluffy. *See Notes for more important tips.
- Scoop the toum into a small bowl and serve with flatbread and chicken shawarma, shish tawook or any chicken dish or pour the toum into a sterilised well-sealed glass jar, such as a mason’s jar, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
- Fresh young garlic is essential. Chefs recommend using a fresh, young, whole garlic bulb (also called a garlic head), which will typically give you 12 garlic cloves. Don’t use old garlic or packaged peeled garlic from the supermarket (which could be very old), as it can contribute to the toum splitting and will give you a bitter taste.
- Removing garlic germs. To remove the garlic germs from the centre of the garlic cloves, slice each clove in half and use a paring knife or small sharp knife to remove the green germ (sometimes white), or give each clove one quick pound with a pestle then remove the germ.
- Egg whites. If you're not vegan and don't have an egg allergy, use an egg white for a faster foolproof toum. Restaurants in the Middle East typically use egg whites to make a faster foolproof toum, as they don't have the time or can afford to waste big batches of split toum.
- Type of oil. Traditionally a light olive oil was used in toumeya in the Middle East, but these days a more neutral tasting oil is preferred such as sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, or avocado oil.
- A slow trickle is essential. And by slowly trickling, we’re talking drizzling, even dripping, at a snail’s pace – this is absolutely essential to ensure the toumeya does not split.
Nutrition
Calories: 239kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 1209mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 14IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 1mg