Romanian Grilled Skinless Sausages (Mici)
Mici miciSay it: MEE-chee
These skinless beef-and-pork sausages are a fixture at Romanian outdoor gatherings, where they're shaped into small cylinders and grilled over a very hot fire. A cold, lengthy mixing process with garlic, thyme, and bone broth gives the meat a dense yet springy texture that holds up on the grill. After an overnight rest in the refrigerator, the mixture is ready to form and cook, yielding a crusty outside and a moist, savory center. Serve them straight off the coals with sharp mustard and crusty bread for an easy, satisfying main.
Romanian Grilled Skinless Sausages (Mici)
Mici, mici
Pronounced MEE-chee
- Serves
- 6
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: none of the major allergens in the listed ingredients. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
For shaping and grilling
Method
Put the beef and pork strips in the refrigerator until very cold, then pass them through a meat grinder fitted with a medium plate into a big bowl. If starting with already ground meat, keep it chilled and crumble it apart before proceeding.
Mix the salt, pepper, thyme, allspice, paprika, and crushed garlic into the ground meat. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the chilled broth and work the mixture hard, either with your hands or a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, for roughly 10 minutes.
Scatter the baking soda over the meat, then keep mixing while gradually drizzling in the rest of the cold broth little by little, just enough to incorporate each addition. Continue for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the mixture turns glossy, tacky, and stretchy and stays put on a spoon or spatula.
Firmly pack the meat mixture down in the bowl to squeeze out any trapped air, lay plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill it in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours or up to overnight.
Rub a little vegetable oil on your palms, then roll the chilled mixture into uniform cylinders measuring about 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) in length and 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 cm) in diameter, each weighing roughly 2 oz (50 g).
Get a charcoal or gas grill very hot. Lightly oil the cooking grates, then cook the mici directly over the high flames, flipping them three times with tongs. Total grilling time is about 8 to 10 minutes, or until the outside is dark brown and a bit crisp while the center remains tender and moist.
Let the cooked sausages sit off the heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve them warm with a pot of strong mustard and fresh white bread rolls.
Regional variant: Mici de oaie (lamb mici)
Swap the pork shoulder for the same weight of fatty lamb shoulder, leaving the beef and every other ingredient unchanged. Use the allspice and paprika in the same amounts, though some cooks like to bump up the allspice a bit and cut back on the thyme so the lamb stands out more. The mixing, chilling, and cooking steps stay exactly the same.
Cook's notes
- Avoid lean cuts or veal—the fat in the beef and pork is what keeps the mici from drying out.
- Make sure both the meat and broth are thoroughly chilled before and during mixing; this helps the fat stay distributed and the paste hold together.
- Don't rush the mixing stage. The extended kneading is what builds the signature bounce in the cooked sausages.
Serve with
Pair the hot mici with a strong yellow mustard, soft white rolls, pickled green tomatoes, and an ice-cold Romanian beer.
Make ahead and storage
You can hold the uncooked meat mixture in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Shape it into logs, freeze them on a tray until solid, then transfer to a bag and keep frozen for as long as 2 months. Leftover grilled mici reheat nicely in a hot skillet or on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes.
