Sulu Köfte

Finished with an egg and lemon liaison stirred in off the heat, which thickens it without flour.

Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef, chicken stock.

Ingredients

the köfte

• 500 g minced beef
• 60 g short-grain rice
• 1 onion, grated and squeezed dry
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• plain flour, for rolling

the broth

• 1.2 litres light beef or chicken stock
• 1 carrot, in small dice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon salt

the liaison

• 2 egg yolks
• juice of 1½ lemons
• 1 tablespoon plain flour

Method

1. IT IS FINISHED WITH AN EGG AND LEMON LIAISON STIRRED IN OFF THE HEAT, which thickens it without flour in the broth. Two yolks, the juice of a lemon and a half and a spoonful of flour are beaten together, let down with ladlefuls of the hot broth one at a time, and then poured back into a pan that has come OFF the stove. The yolks thicken it to the weight of single cream and the lemon makes it sharp, and the result is nothing like a flour-thickened stew -- it is glossy and light and tastes primarily of lemon. Poured into a simmering pan it scrambles into threads within seconds and cannot be rescued.
2. THE TEMPERING IS DONE A LADLE AT A TIME AND CANNOT BE HURRIED. Three or four ladles of hot broth whisked into the yolks before the mixture goes anywhere near the pan. Each one raises the yolks a little; all at once, or straight from the bowl into the pan, and they curdle. This is the slowest two minutes in the dish and the only ones that matter.
3. THE RICE IS INSIDE THE KÖFTE AND GOES IN UNCOOKED. Sixty grams of short-grain rice worked into the mince. It swells in the broth over twenty-five minutes and opens the köfte up from inside so they stay light. Cooked rice makes them heavy.
4. THE KÖFTE ARE FLOURED AND LOWERED INTO A BARE SIMMER. A light roll in flour gives a skin that holds; a rolling boil knocks them apart within a few minutes. The surface should barely move and the pan is shaken rather than stirred.
5. IT IS SERVED THE MOMENT THE LIAISON IS IN. The thickening will not survive reheating -- back on the heat it splits and goes grainy. So the bowls are warm and on the counter before the pan comes off the stove.
6. The onion grated and squeezed dry. The beef, UNCOOKED rice, onion, salt and pepper kneaded 4 MINUTES.
7. Rolled into 20 small balls and rolled LIGHTLY in flour.
8. The stock brought to a BARE simmer with the carrot, butter and salt.
9. The köfte lowered in and simmered 25 MINUTES, the pan shaken not stirred. The surface must barely move.
10. TESTED: one cut open -- the rice inside must be fully swollen with no crunch.
11. The egg yolks, lemon juice and flour whisked together in a bowl until smooth.
12. THREE OR FOUR LADLES of the hot broth whisked into the yolks ONE AT A TIME.
13. Warm bowls set out.
14. THE PAN TAKEN OFF THE HEAT COMPLETELY.
15. The tempered mixture poured in and stirred through.
16. CHECKED: it should thicken to about the weight of single cream and stay smooth. Any graininess means the pan was too hot.
17. Tasted for lemon and salt, and ladled out at once. It does not reheat.

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