Small skinless sausages of ground beef seasoned with garlic, cumin, and baking soda, grilled until charred. Romania's beloved barbecue staple.
Nutrition & Info
Allergen Warnings
Equipment Needed
Presentation Guide
Instructions
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1
Combine both ground meats in a large bowl with the baking soda, garlic, paprika, cumin, thyme, caraway, pepper, and salt. Add the beef broth and mix vigorously with your hands for five minutes until the mixture becomes very smooth, sticky, and well bound.
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2
Cover the meat mixture and refrigerate for at least four hours, ideally overnight. This rest period allows the baking soda to tenderize the meat, the spices to permeate throughout, and the mixture to firm up for easier shaping on the grill.
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3
With wet hands, take walnut-sized portions of the chilled mixture and roll into small cylinders about eight centimetres long and two centimetres thick. Keep your hands wet to prevent sticking. Place the shaped mici on an oiled tray.
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4
Preheat a charcoal grill or grill pan to high heat. Brush the grates with oil to prevent sticking. Grill the mici for two to three minutes per side, turning to cook all four sides, until deeply charred with visible grill marks and cooked through.
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5
The finished mici should have a crispy, charred exterior with a juicy, tender interior that is well-seasoned throughout. The baking soda creates a slightly springy texture that is characteristic of properly made Romanian grilled rolls.
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6
Serve the hot mici immediately with a generous amount of yellow mustard and fresh crusty bread. These skinless grilled meat rolls are Romania's most popular street food, served at every outdoor gathering, festival, and sports event across the country.
Did You Know?
Mici (pronounced 'meech') are so popular that Romania consumes over 100 million during summer barbecue season.
Chef's Notes
Equipment Tips
- charcoal grill
- mixing bowl
Garnishing
mustard
Accompaniments
bread, french fries, pickles
The Story Behind Mici
The Story: Mici, also known as mititei, are small skinless sausages of ground beef blended with garlic, cumin, thyme, and a pinch of baking soda that gives them their distinctive airy texture. Legend attributes their invention to a nineteenth-century Bucharest inn where the kitchen ran out of casings and the cook improvised by grilling the seasoned meat without them. The dish quickly became Romania's most beloved street food, inseparable from outdoor gatherings and warm-weather celebrations.
On the Calendar: Mici are the quintessential food of Romanian summers, grilled at barbecues, picnics, festivals, and football matches. They are sold from street vendors and beer gardens across the country, always accompanied by mustard and fresh bread.
Then and Now: While the origin story may be apocryphal, mici were well established by the early twentieth century as Bucharest's signature street food. Today they are mass-produced and sold frozen in supermarkets, but the best versions remain those grilled fresh over charcoal at outdoor gatherings, where the smoky aroma draws crowds.
Legacy: Mici represent the Romanian genius for turning simple ground meat into a national obsession, proving that great food needs neither complexity nor pretension.
Comments (1)
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Reminds me of my grandmother's cooking. Such a nostalgic flavor.