Kitfo

The beef is minced and then marinated, which is the half gored gored leaves out.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef, cheese whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

600 g lean beef, well trimmed
4 tablespoons niter kibbeh, as on its own page, warmed
2 teaspoons mitmita
1 teaspoon salt
200 g ayib or other mild fresh cheese, to serve
300 g collard greens, cooked, to serve

Method

THE BEEF IS MINCED AND THEN MARINATED, WHICH IS THE HALF GORED GORED LEAVES OUT. Its article has it as MINCED RAW BEEF, MARINATED IN MITMITA AND NITER KIBBEH, and the mincing is in the word itself: the name comes from the root k-t-f, meaning TO CHOP FINELY; MINCE.
SO THE SPICED BUTTER IS A MARINADE HERE AND A DRESSING THERE. Minced meat has the surface area to take it all the way through, and that is why this one is mixed and left to stand while gored gored, as on its own page, is seasoned at the table.
CHOP IT BY HAND, DO NOT MINCE IT IN A MACHINE. Two sharp knives and a cold board. A mincer crushes and weeps, and the texture of this dish is the whole of it.
KEEP EVERYTHING COLD AND WORK FAST. Meat from the fridge, a chilled bowl, and back to the cold the moment it is mixed.
WARM THE NITER KIBBEH ONLY TO POURING, NOT TO HOT. Hot butter would cook the outside of the mince grey, which is the one thing to avoid in a raw dish.
MIX THE MITMITA AND SALT THROUGH THE BUTTER FIRST, THEN THE BUTTER THROUGH THE MEAT. Spice added dry sits in pockets; carried in fat it goes everywhere.
LET IT STAND TEN MINUTES, COLD, AND NO LONGER. Long enough for the mitmita to bloom in the fat, short enough that the salt has not drawn the juices out.
SERVE IT WITH THE CHEESE AND THE GREENS, AND LIGHTLY COOKED IF YOU PREFER. The article names ayib, a mild cheese, and gomen, cooked greens, as what it comes with or is mixed into, and records that KITFO COOKED LIGHTLY RARE IS KNOWN AS KITFO LEB LEB -- thirty seconds in a dry hot pan, stirred once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Ethiopia · All recipes