Kitfo – Ethiopian Steak Tartare

Blessing Funmilayo
Blessing Funmilayohttps://afrifoodnetwork.com/
Hello, my name is Funmilayo, and i love to write about food, beauty, fashion and wellness. So welcome to my Food world! I share histories, discoveries, uniqueness, tips, and tricks on different dishes .Come let's take this adventure together. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do and hope to see you back here again soon.
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Kitfo (Ethiopian Steak Tartare) Recipe – This Ethiopian beef tartare recipe uses high-quality steak seasoned with bold spices for delectable dish that goes well with almost any side! 
Serve raw or quickly seared as meal that everyone will enjoy sharing at the dinner table.

What is Kitfo?

Kitfo is an Ethiopian and Eritrean meal cooked with raw ground beef and spiced with mitmita, traditional spice blend incorporating pili-pili pepper. Niter kibbeh, a native clarified butter  Nister kibbeh, native clarified butter seasoned with a variety of spices, is also added. 
This recipe is similar to gored gored, but the meat is chopped differently, resulting in various flavor sensations. The meat in gored gored is sliced into cubes, but for this recipe it is minced.
It’s recommended to use top-quality lean beef for this recipe, such as tenderloin or sirloin. 

Origin of Kitfo

Kitfo is an extremely popular dish in Ethiopia, enjoyed at major annual celebrations and family celebrations. “Kitfo” means to finely chop or mince.

Kitfo Recipe

This Ethiopian recipe only includes a handful of ingredients, which are mostly vibrant spices. To make authentic Kitfo you need:
  • 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 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 long time or takes the form of 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

Spice trekkers
Kitfo can also be cooked and has its own unique names - tire, leb leb, geba yale and yebesele - according to the degree of cooking. It is traditionally eaten with your hands using tef crepes and braised green cabbage leaves. We serve it with lettuce. A little advice: make a lot of spiced butter; it's great to cook with and keeps for a long time.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine East Africa, Ethiopia
Servings 4
Calories 487 kcal

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.

Notes

It is possible to keep leftover kitfo overnight, in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The next day, either sauté or heat over very low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until the butter melts, and the temperature of the meat approaches room temperature. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 487kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Blessing Funmilayo
Blessing Funmilayohttps://afrifoodnetwork.com/
Hello, my name is Funmilayo, and i love to write about food, beauty, fashion and wellness. So welcome to my Food world! I share histories, discoveries, uniqueness, tips, and tricks on different dishes .Come let's take this adventure together. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do and hope to see you back here again soon.
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