Dominican Quipe (Kipe)
Kipes, or Quipes, are a Dominicanized version of the Lebanese kibbeh. Unlike the traditional Middle Eastern kibbeh that uses lamb, Dominicans use beef and we leave out spices and herbs like mint (even though i used it for my recipe), cumin, pine nuts, and others).
Dominican Quipe (Kipe)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup bulgur , I used Bobs Red Mill Bulgur
1 qt [1 lt] of water , (may not use all)
1 lb [0.4 kg] of ground beef
1 bell pepper , roughly chopped
a handful of basil leaves ,
2 tbsp mint
1 onion , roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
sazon molido (you can also use sazon con achiote)
Adobo,
S+P to taste
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups oil for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
Put the wheat in a bowl and add enough water to cover and let it rest overnight, stir a couple of times while it rests.
Pulse onion, basil,mint,garlic and pepper in the food processor until you obtain a coarse paste,
In a bowl, mix the meat, paste, sazon molido, adobo and S+P.. Mix the meat well and separate in thirds. set aside.
To Make the Filling:
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add 1/3 of the meat you've taken out. Brown the meat. Mix in the tomato sauce and 1/4 cup water.
When all the liquid has evaporated, remove from the heat.
Let it cool down to room temperature. Set aside.
To assemble the Quipes:
Drain the leftover water from the bulgur and sieve it through a colander. squueze it with you hands or a tea towel if you need to make sure all the liquid is gone.
Add the rest of the raw meat to the bulgur. add a little more salt,pepper and adobo to the mix,
Knead the mix well until its uniform. This is really important, the better mixed this is, the better chances of Quipes not breaking apart while they’re frying, you can also pulse for a couple of minutes in a food processor for a more compact texture.
Put 2 tablespoons of the mixture on the palm of your hands and roll into a ball.
Make a deep indentation in the ball.
Place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the indentation.
Gather around the hole, closing it, and roll the kipe with the palm of your hands making it as compact as possible. Pinch the ends to give it its traditional shape.
Refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
When it is time to fry them give them another quick squeeze to make them even more compact.
Heat the remaining oil in a frying pot over medium heat. The oil has to be very hot
Fry the Quipes, dropping them in the oil with a slotted spoon to avoid burning yourself. DO NOT OVERCROWD THE POT!
After frying, the Quipe has to be deep brown outside. Open the first one when you are done, if there is any pink part inside it means there is still raw meat and fry the next one longer. Place them on a paper towel to drain excess oil.
Serve with ketchup and enjoy!
