Mititei — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Skinless beef sausages seasoned with garlic, cumin, and baking soda for a distinctive fluffy texture, grilled over charcoal until charred and juicy.

Ingredients

1kg ground beef
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sweet paprika
100ml beef broth
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt and black pepper
Mustard for serving

Instructions

1 Mix ground beef with garlic, cumin, baking soda, thyme, paprika, beef broth, oil, salt, and pepper. Knead the mixture well for five minutes.
2 Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight. The baking soda reacts with the meat to create the characteristic light texture.
3 With wet hands, shape the mixture into finger-sized sausages about eight centimeters long and two centimeters thick.
4 Preheat charcoal grill to high heat. The coals should be white-hot for the best char.
5 Grill mititei for three to four minutes per side, turning carefully, until charred on the outside and juicy inside.
6 Serve immediately with strong mustard, crusty bread, and cold beer. They must be eaten hot off the grill.

Did You Know?

Legend has it that mititei were invented when a Bucharest restaurant ran out of sausage casings and the cook shaped the seasoned meat by hand, accidentally creating an iconic dish.