Sabich. Ever heard of it? A sabich sandwich; Stuff eggplant, hard-boiled eggs and Israeli cucumber tomato salad into a pita. It may not sound like much, but I promise by the time you add some amba mango sauce, some tahini and some zhoug, you will be addicted. Sounds like a foreign language, huh?
When visiting other countries I always love the street food scene. In Israel it's falafel, shawarma, big Jerusalem bagels, burekas and really to many to count!
I've never been a falafel lover, which is ubiquitous in Israel. But so is this sabich that took me so long to discover.
I love this super summer sandwich with its kaleidescope of flavors and textures.
This vegetarian pita sandwich is creamy and crunchy, savory, spicy, tangy and a touch sweet, and is very filling!
Manservant wasn't so sure about this DARING dinner, but even he liked it!
I gave him some grilled chicken on the side, but I think next time he might even forgo the chicken.
As many of you may know I am not a meat eater so I'm always on the lookout for meatless recipes.
Manservant loves hard-boiled eggs so I figured I might be able to sneek this past him.
Table of contents
What to Know!
Sabich is an Iraqi Jewish dish that came to Israel when 120,000 Iraqi Jews were airlifted from Iraq to Israel. No one is 100% sure where this eggplant sandwich's name came from, but some say it was the surname of a man from Iraq that opened a stall in Tel Aviv in 1961. Others say it comes from the Arabic word for breakfast (sabah meaning morning or dawn).
Sa-beek!
Usually stuffed into a pita, sabich or sabih always contains fried eggplant and hard-boiled eggs. Israeli chopped salad, shredded cabbage, pickles, tahini, sometimes potatoes or French fries, and a variety of sauces such as hot sauce like zhoug and almost always amba-a mango sauce are included.
Sabich Sandwich Ingredient Notes
Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start!
Pita or Other Bread: This sandwich can be stuffed into a pita or rolled in laffa flatbread. It is also great on a roll or on toast. Shoot-you could even roll it in a tortilla!
Eggplant can be fried, baked or grilled. If frying, dust in cornstarch, so your eggplant turns out crispy.
Side note: There is a sabich stand in Israel that fries their eggplant as needed. Fresh fried eggplant makes the best sabich. I am not a fryer so I bake mine!
Hard-boiled Eggs - Many like to use haminados which are slow roasted whole eggs made in the oven overnight. I have made them for Passover but the verdict is that they are very creamy but don't really taste different. I have an ancient egg cooker that makes 7 eggs and that is what I use!
Israeli Salad - A chopped tomato, cucumber salad with onion and maybe red peppers, drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and fresh herbs such as mint, parsley and dill.
Shredded Cabbage for extra crunch
Sliced Dill Pickles
Fresh chopped parsley
Condiments:
Zhoug sauce is a spicy green sauce made with cilantro, green chile peppers, and spices such as coriander, cumin, cardamom and fresh herbs (I like Trader Joes fresh version.)
Harissa is a red chile sauce with red bell peppers that can be mild or hot.
Tahini sauce is tahini with cumin, salt and lemon juice and garlic and ice water. This should be of drizzling consistency. It's easy to make your own from tahini sesame paste.
Amba is a pickled mango sauce that can be smooth or chunky. I found a squeezable container at a Turkish grocery. Amba came to Iraq by way of India and is often compared to mango chutney. This sauce adds that something extra taste that everyone loves but can't often indentify!
Potatoes are optional.
Sound complicated? It really isn't. I buy tahini and zhoug comes from Trader Joes and the rest I usually have on hand.
How To Assemble a Sabich:
The most important thing to know is to put an eggplant slice on each side of the pita. Then the sliced eggs. In the center add in the salad, pickles, and cabbage. Then drizzle with sauce. The eggplant helps keep the bread from getting soggy.
How to Serve an Eggplant Sandwich
This is a two-handed sabich sandwich so keep it simple.
It can get messy!
Other ways to make sabich:
Serve the eggplant and eggs over the chopped salad in a bowl.
Or chop all the ingredients together and stuff into pitas: similar to a chopped sub.
I love serving this with French fries or potato chips on the side.
Of course, more Israeli chopped salad is great, too.
Adding slices of fresh watermelon and corn on the cob to the table rounds out this easy, but tasty, meal.
Personally, I could eat one of these every day.
Add this new sandwich to your repertoire and let me know what you think!
I'd love to hear if you make this recipe!
Please share a review or rate the recipe,
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Recipe
Favorite Eggplant Sabich Sandwich
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Sandwiches
- Cuisine: Israeli
Description
Some might consider a sabich a breakfast sandwich because of the hard boiled eggs. I can eat this incredible stuffed pita for any meal and be quite happy. Loaded with fresh herb flavor, sweet, spicy and tangy sauces, plus crunchy salad, makes this one of my favorite street foods in Israel.
Ingredients
Fried, Baked or Grilled Eggplant Slices sliced into ½" slices
Hard-boiled Eggs
Israeli Salad - cucumbers, tomatoes, diced onion and a bit of lemon juice, olive oil and salt
Shredded Cabbage
Chopped Parsley
Zhoug
Harissa - mild to spicy chili pepper sauce (I have also used matboucha but it contains tomatoes)
Tahina Sauce - made with garlic, lemon, cumin, chickpeas and ice water Mix into tahini paste to make this a drizzle consistency
Amba - mango sauce
Pickles - Israeli pickles (they come in a can) or I use baby dills
Pita, Laffa Bread, Buns
Other additions include boiled potatoes or Fries
Instructions
Prepare eggplant slices as you prefer. I slice them and then salt them after placing on a paper towel. Let rest about 15 minutes while oven is preheating to 450. Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Brush each eggplant slice with olive oil and place on baking sheet. Bake about 15 minutes and flip over. If the slices are not sliced evenly you may end up with some that turn black in spots. Those are my favorite!
Make hard-boiled eggs. I use an egg cooker for perfect results.
Make Israeli salad unless you just want chopped veggies sprinkled on.
Assemble a sabich bar. Put out a bowl of Israeli salad. Add a plate of shredded cabbage, parsley and sliced pickles. Sauces should include amba, tahina sauce-not tahina paste, zhoug, harissa or both. Put out some potatoes in whatever form you want but these are optional.
Notes
Please see post for other suggestions.
Other Recipes To Enjoy
Falafel Waffle Brunch Sandwich
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