Pork Burgers with Ethiopian Mitmitma Spice

We've made pork belly burgers that turned out well, they were super rich and juicy. This time we're using leaner "country style ribs" that still has a fair amount of fat, and we're adding the very piquant Ethiopian Mitmitma spice for flavor. Ethiopians don't generally eat pork, but this is far from a traditional preparation.

Pork Mitmitma burger with Injera and Mead

1.5 pound Pork country style ribs (boneless)
6 tsp Mitmitma powder
1 Tbs Salt
1 Tbs chopped Parsley
1/2 Onion

Cut and grind the country style ribs from frozen: they grind better when nearly frozen instead of smearing. We use a grinder attachment on a KitchenAid mixer.

Cut and grind while still nearly frozen

After a first pass through the coarse cutting disk, we add the Mitmitma, Salt and Parsley, then combine gently.

First coarse grind

Run this through the smaller cutting disk while still cold so it cuts cleanly. When grinding meat, I usually follow the last piece with a bit of onion which will push the final bits of meat through the blades, and a little pulverized onion adds flavor and moisture.

Fine grind with seasonings

Form gently into burgers: 6 seemed about right, they'll be 4 ounces each in this case. I made these flatter than I'd make beef burgers as I want to ensure they'll cook all the way through.

6 4-ounce patties, and the test piece

There's a tiny portion on the bottom left that we cooked up to test the spice level: the small amount of Mitmitma was definitely enough to give these a burn but without bringing tears to our eyes like some Kitfo (Ethiopian beef tartar) we've had. We cooked them fast to develop a bit of a sear on cast iron, even though we'd be breaking the burgers apart for serving tonight.

Sear on cast iron

We served this with Injera bread from Dhama Bakery on Columbia Pike in Arlington VA, heated (incongruously, but effectively) in a Mexican tortilla warmer.

Injera bread

Instead of the Ethiopian Tej honey wine, I brought out a bottle of mead I made over 20 years ago.

Home made mead