Table of Contents
What is Kitfo?
Origin of Kitfo
Kitfo Recipe
- Beef filet – well-trimmed
- Anchovy paste – for a unique salty and savory flavor
- Seasonings – cayenne pepper, salt, garlic powder, ground cardamom
- Clarified butter – or ghee
You can add more or less cayenne pepper to taste, depending on how spicy a dish you want. But even if you prefer a mild beef tartare I suggest you add at least a smidge of the spice for great flavor.
To make a proper kitfo, fresh, lean meat must be used. This should also be used very soon after purchase and must be partially defatted.
Recipe Variation
- There is another Ethiopian dish called kitfo that’s made from finely chopped green cabbage. However, in addition to injera, this is frequently served as an accompaniment to a beef kitfo.
- The name of the dish may change depending on the level of cooking. When it is just hot enough to melt the butter, it is called lebleb, and it can also be called Geba yale.
If the cooking takes a long time or takes the form of a kofta, it’s yebesele.
- This recipe is also reminiscent of the famous beef tartare found in France or Italy, only the seasoning is different. In the Ethiopian version, mitmita adds a very spicy dimension to the dish. This is due to it containing pili-pili pepper, which is particularly spicy and brings a certain freshness to the kitfo.
Serving Suggestions
Kitfo is best enjoyed at room temperature. You can enjoy a side of collard greens, misir wat lentils, and homemade injera bread.
You can also be served on a large plate containing many other dishes, such as gomen (stewed cabbage), for example, and different stews of legumes such as peas or beans. Presented like this, it’s reminiscent of mezze.
How Do you Eat Kitfo?
It’s traditional in Ethiopian cuisine to eat with your hands and use the injera bread or other flatbread as a kind of a scoop and edible plate.
Tear off a piece of the bread, and holding it in one hand, use it to grab a bit of the tartare almost like a small mit or glove. Then just take a bite and enjoy!
Storage
Tartare does taste best when eaten freshly prepared or refrigerated for about 30 minutes. You should only keep the beef tartare in the fridge for up to a day or so. To enjoy the next day after making, remove from the fridge and eat cold or let the Kitfo come to room temperature for about 15 minutes before serving.
Be Sure to Try These Other Authentic Ethiopian dishes!
Be sure to recreate this incredible Ethiopian and Eritrean dish of ground raw beef flavored with mitmita and niter kibbeh. Bon appétit!
KITFO
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs top round beef
- 1 tbsp Reshampatti pepper
- 1 tbsp Royal Berbere
- Salt, to taste
- Fresh jalapeño for garnish
- 12 basil leaves
- Lettuce leaves for serving
Instructions
- Put clarified butter in a small pot. Coarsely grind dry spices; add to the pot along with garlic and scallion. Heat on low for a few minutes; remove from heat when the butter start to smell and the garlic begins to color. Let stand 10 minutes. Filter through a fine mesh sieve or paper coffee filter. Wipe the pot with a paper towel.
- Cut meat into 1 to 1 ½-inch cubes then chop, not too finely, with a knife. If you use a food processor, chop the meat in 3 batches until fine but not minced.
- Grind chile and spices finely in a mortar. Place the strained butter in the pot and warm gently. Add ground spices, beef and salt. Mix well and serve raw if you want a tire kitfo. Otherwise, continue to cook to leb leb, geba yale or yebesele (rare, medium or well done).
- Garnish with chopped jalapeño and basil. Serve with lettuce leaves to make little rolls.
