İnegöl Köfte

Worked with a pinch of bicarbonate and rested overnight, which is what makes it soft instead of springy.

Beef, Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains beef, lamb.

Ingredients

• 700 g minced beef, coarsely minced
• 150 g minced lamb
• 1 large onion, grated and squeezed dry
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Method

1. IT IS WORKED WITH A PINCH OF BICARBONATE AND RESTED OVERNIGHT, which is what makes it soft instead of springy. Half a teaspoon in nearly a kilo of mince raises the pH enough that the proteins hold onto water instead of squeezing it out as they set, so the köfte stays juicy and tender rather than firming into the bouncy texture that well-kneaded mince gives. Then twelve hours in the fridge: the bicarbonate needs time to work through, and the salt dissolves and redistributes. Made and grilled the same hour, with the same mixture, the result is noticeably springier and drier, and no amount of care at the grill recovers it.
2. MORE THAN A PINCH IS A DISASTER AND IT IS WORTH MEASURING. Bicarbonate past about half a teaspoon per kilo tastes distinctly soapy and metallic, and it also turns the surface of the meat slightly slippery. This is one of the few places on this site where going generous with an ingredient ruins the dish outright.
3. THE ONION IS GRATED AND SQUEEZED BONE DRY. Grated gives the seasoning without pieces; squeezed, because the juice would make a mixture that will not hold a shape and that steams on the grill. The juice is thrown away here, which is the opposite of the kuzu şiş page where only the juice is used.
4. THERE IS NO BREAD AND NO EGG IN IT. Nothing but meat, onion and seasoning. A binder would do the job the bicarbonate and the overnight rest are there for, and it would do it by making the mixture denser -- which is precisely what this köfte is trying not to be.
5. THEY ARE SHAPED WET AND FLATTENED SLIGHTLY. Hands dipped in cold water, the balls rolled and then pressed to about two centimetres thick. Flattened, they cook through in the four or five minutes the outside needs; left as spheres, the middle is raw when the outside is done.
6. The onion grated and SQUEEZED BONE DRY in a cloth. The juice discarded.
7. The beef, lamb, onion, bicarbonate, salt, pepper and cumin mixed and kneaded BY HAND 5 MINUTES, until it comes together.
8. Covered and RESTED OVERNIGHT in the fridge, at least 12 HOURS.
9. Taken out 30 minutes before cooking.
10. Hands dipped in cold water and the mixture rolled into 12 balls, then PRESSED to about 2 cm thick.
11. A griddle or charcoal fire brought to a medium-high heat.
12. The köfte cooked 4 MINUTES on the first side without moving.
13. TURNED and given 3 to 4 MINUTES more.
14. TESTED: one cut open should be just cooked through and visibly moist. If it is springy to the bite, the rest needed longer than overnight.
15. Rested 3 minutes and served with raw onion, sumac and flatbread.

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 Turkey · All recipes