Mici de Casă

Mici de Casă

Recipes with Mici

Homemade mici from scratch, with a three-meat mix of beef, pork, and lamb that many Romanian households consider the fullest version of the recipe. The lamb adds a faint gaminess that pure beef-pork blends lack. Made on a weekend when there is time to let the mixture rest overnight.

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

15 min

Servings

6

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • 400g beef mince (chuck, 20% fat)
  • 200g pork mince (shoulder)
  • 200g lamb mince
  • 5 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 150ml cold lamb or beef broth, homemade
  • 1½ tsp dried thyme (cimbru)
  • 1 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked
  • ½ tsp sweet paprika
  • ¼ tsp hot paprika
  • 1½ tsp fine salt
  • 1 tbsp cold water, for shaping
  • Muștar and bread to serve

Steps

1

Pass all three meats through a medium-fine mincer plate, or ask your butcher to do this. The mix should be cohesive but not a paste. If buying pre-minced meat, combine them and pass through the mincer once more for better integration.

2

In a large bowl, combine the three meats with garlic paste, thyme, black pepper, sweet paprika, hot paprika, and salt. Mix by hand for 4 minutes, working in one direction to develop the protein strands. The mixture should pull away from the bowl sides.

3

Dissolve the baking soda in the cold broth. Pour over the meat in three additions, mixing between each. The mixture will loosen and become slightly sticky. This stickiness is the protein network that holds the mici together without a casing.

4

Cover and refrigerate overnight. The rest period is not optional for the three-meat version: the lamb fat firms up and the spices penetrate more evenly.

5

Remove the mixture from the fridge 20 minutes before shaping. Wet your hands with cold water. Take a portion of about 80g and roll between your palms into a cylinder of 8–9cm length. Repeat. Place formed mici on a lightly oiled tray.

6

Grill over charcoal on maximum heat: 5 minutes first side, 4 minutes second side, turning once or twice more for even colour. Serve hot. The three-meat mici are more fragile than pure beef versions; handle gently when turning.

Tips

Fresh homemade broth makes a real difference here. If you have beef or lamb bones, simmer them for two hours with an onion and carrot, strain, and cool the broth before using. The gelatin from bones helps bind the mixture. Carton broth works but produces a flatter result.