Kyufte: Grilled Pork Patties

Name: Kyufte - Bulgarian Grilled Pork Patties Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Bulgarian cuisine
Ingredients: Pork 1 kg; Onion 1; Salt, ground black pepper, sweet red paprika, savory to taste

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60 mins

The word “cutlet” is supposed to mean meat on the bone. What we are used to calling a cutlet is really a meatball, and what we call a cutlet is the chop. Fine, so be it. In Bulgarian, after all, a watermelon is “dinya” and a melon is “pupesh”. And nobody minds.

Bulgarian cuisine in general is tasty and welcoming. I especially like that a frying pan is rarely used for cooking meat; most of the time it is a grill.

Every restaurant has a separate “Skara” section on the menu, with everything from meat and vegetables to toasted bread. We loved Bulgarian kyufte, pork patties cooked on the grill.

The name kyufte (kufta) probably comes from the Persian kūfta (کوفتن), “to grind” or “meatballs”.

3 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

4 servings

Pork 1 kg
Onion 1
Salt, ground black pepper, sweet red paprika, savory to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Trim the pork of membranes, tendons and small bones. Grind the meat twice through a meat grinder. Season the mince to taste with black pepper, sweet red paprika and dried savory.
Mix the mince thoroughly so the spices are evenly distributed. Add boiled water to the mince a little at a time, 1 tbsp at once, and keep mixing. Add up to 100 ml of water in total this way. If the mince turns out dense and dry, add a bit more water.
Put the mince in the fridge for 1.5-2 hours to rest.
Next, grate a peeled onion into the mince. By the way, you can use a food chopper, and there will be far fewer tears.
Salt the mince and mix thoroughly once more.
The mince is ready.
Shape the patties: small meatballs or flat rounds. A rough size is a not-too-large chicken egg.
Heat the grill or an electric grill plate. A ridged grill pan will work just fine.
Brush the grill grate with a little vegetable oil so the meat doesn’t stick or burn.
Grill for 3-4 mins on each side.
For a side, serve a little fresh greens and a spicy tomato sauce. And very fresh bread, without fail.