Heritage Literature

  • Home
  • Contact Me

Recipe: Jibin-Arabic Cheese

1/22/2014

3 Comments

 
My great-grandmother brought this recipe with her from Lebanon. I have been making Jibin since I was about 10. It is a great snack cheese and is very simple to make. It is great on salads or just plain, with a sprinkling of salt. It never lasts long around our house! I made this batch for my back doctor, who is also Arabic.  The recipe I have written out below is for one gallon, but you can easily increase the recipe by simply increasing the amount of milk. The rennet, water and time stay the same. That is one of reasons it is so simple to make. The same amount of rennet will do from 1/2 a gallon to 2 gallons.
Picture
Heat a gallon of milk to 120 degrees, or until you can stir your finger around in it three times and it feels just slightly too warm to be comfortable.
Picture
Stir 1/2 tsp. liquid rennet into a 1/4 c. cold water. (I used a 1/3 of cup this time...no reason, that's just what I happened to measure out...it isn't important to be exact on the water because you will just drain it off later with the whey.)
Picture
Stir into milk gently, but thoroughly and let set for five minutes
Picture
Picture
At the end of five minutes, stir gently with a wooden or plastic spoon. Curds will have already formed. Wait another five minutes and stir again, then let sit for 35 minutes.
Picture
After the 35 minutes, stir gently to break up the curds.
Picture
Pour into a colander lined with cheese cloth(I am not using cheese cloth, but it is similar...I don't know what this material is called or where I got it, you can get cheesecloth at most grocery stores, use a double layer) and let sit for ten minutes.
Picture
After the ten minutes, flip over and let set another ten minutes. During this time you can press gently on the ball of cheese to remove an excess whey. Cheese should still be slightly rubbery. It may be more or less than the twenty minutes depending on how big or small of a batch you are making.
Picture
When the cheese is finished draining, rub with Kosher salt on both sides(you can use sea salt, but Kosher taste better in my opinion), place in a sealed container and store in the refrigerator.  My great-grandmother covered it in water to store it, but I personally prefer not to do that. I find it tends to make the cheese mushy.
Now your delicious Jibin is ready to eat!
3 Comments
Aunt Dona and Sirena
1/23/2014 06:40:15 am

thank you for the recipe ...I think I will try it as soon as I get some burlap cloth- just kidding...boy I had no idea how time sensitive the process was...I would see Situ's jibin hanging in a cheese cloth attached to the faucet...well not to find some time and cheese cloth- and rennet...
xo

Reply
Lauren K. Lotter
1/23/2014 07:17:27 am

Your welcome! Yeah, I'm not sure how well burlap would work!
The times are an approximate...it isn't imperative that the timing be exact. A few minutes isn't going to make a whole lot of difference. I actually have the pillowcase Situ used for making other cheese and Leben(yogurt). You can hang this cheese from the faucet to drain too...I just prefer to do it in a strainer...doesn't make any difference.
Have fun!

Reply
thermomix recipes link
4/2/2015 10:42:30 pm

this recipe is really easy for everyone

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed


    Grab My Button!

    Picture
    <a href="http://www.heritageliterature.com/my-blog"><img src="http://www.heritageliterature.com/uploads/1/0/2/8/10288877/7847242_orig.jpg "></a&gt

    Blogs/Websites I Follow

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2017
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.