Next on Brent Meats World, he meets up with Antony Nassif, chef-owner of Hen House in NYC. This fast-casual spot is all about Lebanese fusion, serving up plates like Nassif's Lebanese version of the Crunchwrap Supreme, lamb birria, and sujuk smash burger. Watch as they butcher a whole lamb and chicken, build a shawarma spit, and wrap hearty pitas.
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, start your adieu.
00:03Yeah, that's hot.
00:04We're here in the East Village with Chef Anthony Nassif
00:07at his Lebanese shawarma shop, Hen House.
00:10Shawarma is arguably the most iconic Middle Eastern dish.
00:14This centuries-old style of cooking
00:16inspired favorites like the Greek gyro
00:19and Mexico's tacos al pastor.
00:22Here, Chef Anthony takes pride in serving
00:24what he calls authentic Lebanese shawarma.
00:28Oh, hell yeah.
00:30Today, I'm getting hands-on,
00:32building my first ever shawarma spit.
00:34Why is this so hard?
00:36And butchering an entire lamb,
00:38all to create this viral smash hit,
00:40the Lebanese crunch wrap supreme.
00:43Oh, dude.
00:45Oh yeah, it's as epic as it sounds.
00:48So come with me, I'm Brent,
00:50and this is Brent Meats World.
00:55The day begins with breaking down our chickens
00:57for the shawarma spit.
00:58All right, so we're gonna debone our chicken breasts
01:01and debone our legs, skin on.
01:03That's kind of the most labor-intensive part,
01:05and then we're gonna make our marinade for it
01:06and get it on the spit.
01:07Okay, show me our first one.
01:09All right, you're probably judging me as I'm doing it.
01:11This is honestly the way that we butcher chickens
01:14at the meat hook.
01:15Take both legs off,
01:17and we're gonna make a boneless breast.
01:20Cut down the breastbone to take your breast off,
01:23and just separating your wings.
01:26Once you butcher all of them,
01:27what we're gonna do is we are gonna slightly butterfly them.
01:31This right here is where we're gonna be hanging it,
01:33right on there.
01:34Where the heck did you learn to do this?
01:38I used to work in Beirut.
01:39They have a bunch of restaurants
01:40for this restaurant group there,
01:41and on my time off, I would just spend a lot of time
01:44befriending the shawarma guys,
01:45just kind of watching how they do it, you know?
01:47It's also pretty sweet
01:48because you get a bunch of free shawarma.
01:50Real, legitimate Lebanese-style shawarma,
01:52and that was kind of the first thing
01:54I kind of had a eureka moment.
01:55When I moved here, I was like,
01:56I really, really have to open up a shawarma shop
01:58because it's just, there isn't a real, real good one.
02:01What makes the real deal?
02:04It's the bread, the bread they use,
02:06the Lebanese bread, or the maru,
02:07and it's the garlic sauce.
02:09None of that white sauce, yogurt-y, S-H-I-T.
02:14I don't know if I can swear here.
02:15You can swear.
02:16You can definitely swear.
02:17Whoa, wait, I love white sauce.
02:19I'm not supposed to love it?
02:21You can like it.
02:22Okay.
02:22But you're supposed to love garlic sauce.
02:24Okay.
02:26Shawarma to Lebanon is like what food to the United States?
02:29Smash burgers.
02:30Ubiquitous.
02:31Smash burgers or pizza.
02:32That's like, that's what you eat when you're drinking.
02:35All right, so the breasts are butterflied,
02:37we got the legs deboned.
02:39What's next?
02:40Next, we're gonna make our marinade.
02:42Okay.
02:43Yeah.
02:43Once we've broken down our chicken parts,
02:45we need to make the marinade.
02:46This is the most crucial step in the process
02:49as it's the foundation of the dish.
02:51So for this particular style,
02:52it's called shawarma mshata.
02:54One of the most important things,
02:56whole oranges, whole lemons.
02:57Just cut them up.
02:58You want that, you want the juice, you want the zest.
03:00It's like super, super, super pungent
03:01and it really gives such a phenomenal flavor.
03:04You also want a whole onion in there.
03:06The garlic, because Lebanon, everything is garlic.
03:10Then I am adding a little something different.
03:12This is what I call Tony Spice.
03:13It's because we can't, we don't have a name for it yet.
03:15Sounds like you do have a name for it.
03:16It's called Tony Spice.
03:17Yeah.
03:18Tony Spice!
03:19So it's a whole bunch of different spices in there.
03:22There's the allspice, not mixed cinnamon,
03:23paprika, turmeric, cloves, cardamom,
03:26a little smoky paprika in there, coriander,
03:29and then yogurt.
03:31You know, all the probiotics in the yogurt
03:33give it a beautiful flavor.
03:34I feel like you're flying loose and free here though.
03:36Every time I've used cinnamon, allspice,
03:38or nutmeg in a meat recipe,
03:40I've f***ed the proportions in some wild way.
03:44So I have a lot of respect for the fact that you're just-
03:46This is like a lot of-
03:48Tony Spice!
03:54I like that the citrus really hits you up front.
03:57Right?
03:58Yeah, spices on the back.
03:59It's like everything's really well balanced,
04:01but you get the orange is the first thing.
04:03The next step in the process
04:04is to bathe the chicken in the marinade.
04:07Rub it into all the nooks and crannies
04:09and let it sit overnight.
04:11These are gonna go in the fridge
04:12and we're gonna go up and make some shawarma.
04:13How's that sound?
04:14Beautiful.
04:15Hell yeah.
04:15So this is like the propane-fired machine from Turkey.
04:19It's a company called Arikan, so it's like,
04:21Classic shawarma machines have a gas,
04:24it's more like a coil,
04:25kind of not a coil, but like that little grate.
04:27Yeah, and everyone kind of taps it on,
04:28but this is the Turkish one.
04:30So now we're getting so controversial.
04:31We're making Lebanese shawarma with a Turkish machine.
04:33Okay, so how hot will this get?
04:35F***ing hot.
04:36Yeah, that hot.
04:37So these are all of our legs.
04:40This has been marinating for a few days.
04:41And now we're just gonna make the first,
04:43they call it the quiche.
04:44Definitely looks much easier than it actually is.
04:47It's all about just like,
04:48you know, the flavor, the texture,
04:50it's all about just like the protein distribution
04:53on the spit, the size of the meats, where it goes.
04:55And also the amount of like, you know,
04:57this is very strong, we have the skin on.
04:59So we're gonna, so this is our first key.
05:02There we go.
05:04So we're gonna start with the thighs?
05:06Yeah.
05:07First thing is the legs.
05:08And then are we gonna rotate?
05:09Exactly.
05:10Okay.
05:11So now that we have our two halves,
05:12now we're gonna put one, one full one.
05:15I'm gonna look for a nice big guy.
05:16Here we go.
05:17And you really wanna like kind of feel in the middle
05:19where we are, where you're gonna put it.
05:21So now we're kind of like getting super nice base.
05:25Wanna try?
05:26Absolutely.
05:27Am I going flat?
05:28Am I full?
05:28Yeah, flat.
05:29Flat?
05:30Yeah.
05:31Kind of wanna like make it more round.
05:32So you see out here, it's kind of smaller.
05:33So we're gonna put the long piece kind of there.
05:35Yay?
05:36Yeah, a little bit other side.
05:37Yeah, exactly.
05:41Why is this so hard?
05:43Okay, got it.
05:44There we go.
05:45Over here, it's a little kind of higher than here.
05:48So we're gonna put the fatter part of the leg on this side.
05:51So it stays nice and even.
05:53Okay, so we're trying to keep the whole thing flat.
05:56Yeah.
05:57So now we have our base.
05:59What we're gonna do is we're gonna start mounting
06:01the breasts.
06:02We're gonna finish now with this like this,
06:05with the skin side up.
06:06And now we're gonna kind of seal the breasts.
06:08Oh, good about that.
06:09Yeah.
06:10Okay.
06:12There we go.
06:14Nice.
06:15Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.
06:19This is freaking cool.
06:21Crazy, right?
06:22This seems a lot hotter than what you see
06:26out of like a lot of kebab spots.
06:27So is this, this is a better way to actually cook?
06:29It's because of this kind of machine.
06:30Okay.
06:31So basically we're gonna start our first time hot.
06:33We're gonna lower it a little bit,
06:34but to start you wanna really wanna crank it.
06:36So about how long are we looking for the first cook?
06:4040 minutes.
06:4040 minutes?
06:41Yeah.
06:42While this meaty mound of marinated chicken
06:45spins around in its shawarma glory,
06:47we need to move on to the next process,
06:50which is butchering an entire lamb.
06:54We're gonna butcher a lamb?
06:55Whole lamb.
06:56We are making sujit sausage,
06:58which is an Armenian lamb and beef sausage.
07:00And we're gonna use all of our parts
07:02for our lamb shawarma biriya and our crunch wrap.
07:04This is where they start every morning at Taco Bell?
07:07It is.
07:08All right, man.
07:09Well, let's get into it.
07:10Let's go.
07:11Let's butcher this bad boy.
07:12All right.
07:12So where'd you come up with the idea
07:14for the Lebanese crunch wrap supreme?
07:16You're gonna see the way the sandwich looks.
07:17I used to make sandwiches with this bread called marout,
07:20but it never really kind of clicked to me
07:21until one day I was making myself like a snack here,
07:23and I'm like, wait a minute.
07:24I'm like, this looks like a crunch wrap.
07:26But it's funny because the bread is like massive
07:28and my service area is small.
07:31So you get like four orders.
07:33I'm like, that's it.
07:33But we really wanted something that was gonna like
07:36get a lot of momentum on Instagram
07:37and like definitely, definitely did.
07:40Now we're just gonna trim it up
07:42and we're gonna get all of our meat for the sausage.
07:44And then we're gonna mandate our parts
07:45for the burrita, for the crunch wrap.
07:47All right.
07:48So we're gonna make some sausage?
07:49Yes, we are.
07:50What are we making?
07:51Sous vide sausage.
07:52It's an Armenian lamb and beef sausage.
07:54We're gonna grind the lamb first.
07:57Is it a breakfast sausage
07:58or is it a breakfast, lunch, dinner,
07:59or any kind of sausage?
08:00Breakfast time, you fry it in a pan,
08:02you do it with eggs.
08:03You eat it out of the pan with pita.
08:04So generally it's a dried sausage.
08:06So you slice it.
08:07You eat it with sauteed tomatoes, garlic, onion,
08:09pomegranate molasses, and lemon.
08:11And that's like a mezze you eat with pita bread.
08:13I like using it as like a chorizo type deal.
08:15Okay.
08:16So we're not gonna case it.
08:17And then we're gonna kind of, in our shawarmas,
08:18we're also gonna serve it like a smash patty
08:21in the shawarmas.
08:21All right, so we got our grind, beef and lamb.
08:24So we got our garlic, our fenugreek, salt,
08:27got the allspice in there, the annatto for color,
08:29cumin, this is cinnamon.
08:32All right, and then we're gonna blend this all up
08:33into a nice little paste.
08:37All right, now we're just gonna portion them out.
08:40We do shawarmas with these and the crunch wrap.
08:42So when someone comes and they see this,
08:43it's like, they usually get it.
08:45Or if I'm suggesting something,
08:46it's this shawarma with the french fries.
08:48It's like crazy.
08:49Now that all the work is done for the day,
08:51it's time to start enjoying the meaty fruits of our labor.
08:56All right, we do the hard work.
08:58Snacky time?
08:58It is definitely snacky time.
09:01All right, so what makes the crunch wrap so unique
09:04is this bread is from Montreal.
09:06This bread is from Montreal.
09:08No one makes it out of Quebec.
09:10So it's called marou.
09:11So it's a very thin wheat bread.
09:14Whoa, little baby blanket.
09:18Thin, fluffy.
09:19So our sausage that we just made,
09:22our portioned out lamb shoulder, that's gonna go on.
09:28We're gonna get our potatoes in here.
09:31The cilantro, coriander, garlic,
09:33it's like a Lebanese sofrito.
09:35We put this in everything.
09:40So that's where we're gonna toss our potatoes in.
09:42Ooh!
09:43So now, our favorite spice.
09:46Tony's spice!
09:48Hell yeah, brother.
09:50So now we're gonna start building.
09:51So it actually is two separate layers.
09:53Yeah.
09:54Yeah, okay.
09:55We're gonna use one?
09:55Yeah.
09:56As our base, because it's thin,
09:58we use one pita in the middle so it doesn't rip on us.
10:02Lebanese garlic sauce.
10:04So now we're gonna put our base.
10:06So now we're gonna smash it down.
10:07We like building, having a good foundation
10:09with our sandwiches.
10:10Sausage, grated cheddar, some crispy pita chips.
10:14Then we're gonna take our lamb.
10:15So since we let it get nice on one side,
10:18it's like nice and crispy,
10:19like crackling without the crackling, you know?
10:21Pomegranate molasses, demonstrate man.
10:23Most meat dishes in Lebanon have this drizzled on top.
10:27Mint.
10:29And then now, we roll it up.
10:31This is insane.
10:35We make like a buttermilk ranch,
10:36but with za'atar in it, because it's Lebanese, you know?
10:38And then our piri piri sauce,
10:40and then we do like a yin yang sauce
10:42so you can kind of dunk.
10:43All right, so I'm gonna do like a cross section and boom.
10:47Oh, dude.
10:51Cheers.
10:52Yeah.
10:52Here, you do the honors please.
11:01It has everything you want.
11:04You taste all of it.
11:05The chimichurri is awesome.
11:08That's super bright.
11:09Right.
11:09But I feel like the cheat code is this freaking bread.
11:12Yeah, it is.
11:13Anything you would put in this would be amazing.
11:15It's so light.
11:16Mm-hmm.
11:16It's extremely light.
11:17I also like that you called out the similarity
11:20of this sausage to chorizo.
11:22It's very much.
11:23Yes, it's a Crunchwrap Supreme.
11:25It's crunchy.
11:26It's like the best crunchy burrito thing ever.
11:31But with all of these Lebanese flavors,
11:33this is insane.
11:36We're in New York City.
11:37We're in the East Village.
11:38You're here to drink.
11:39You're here to have a good time.
11:41If you're here for lunch,
11:42this chicken shawarma I could eat every single day.
11:47You taste the marinade.
11:49The tomb is fantastic.
11:51Super filling, really clean,
11:54and really delicious pickles.
11:56Right.
11:57Suju shawarma.
11:59Love chef's recommendation.
12:01I want to eat this with a fried egg.
12:04Lots of flavor, but still super light.
12:07Nice herbs on it.
12:09Yeah, it's freaking great.
12:15I love lamb.
12:16I love this.
12:17Gooey cheese, rich, fatty lamb shoulder.
12:22This insane dipping sauce.
12:24The whole thing is kind of like Lebanese slash Mexican,
12:29like salsa matcha style.
12:32It's freaking fatty, it's filling,
12:33and so, so, so delicious.
12:37We're getting there.
12:38I'm not slowing down.
12:40I'm not slowing down.
12:41I won't.
12:41You shouldn't.
12:42All right, last but not least,
12:44we have a suju burger.
12:47This is not on the menu,
12:48but if you ask very nicely,
12:51they'll make one for you.
12:55Might find it hard to believe.
12:57Works as a shawarma.
12:58Works in a crunch wrap.
13:00Works as a burger.
13:01This chicken shawarma, I could eat every single day.
13:05It's light, it's refreshing, it's delicious.
13:08Like, this would be my go-to if I were around the corner.
13:11If you're here, maybe on a Friday, Saturday night,
13:15having a couple drinks,
13:17you really cannot walk down First Avenue
13:22and not get a crunch wrap supreme or this lamb birria.
13:26Both are absolutely fantastic.
13:29Also, be a nice guy.
13:31Ask for a burger.
13:32They'll make one for you.
13:33They're delicious.
13:36Can I eat this?
13:37No, no.