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Leskovački Ćevapi (Leskovac Grilled Minced Fingers)

Name: Leskovački Ćevapi (Leskovac Grilled Minced Fingers)
Prep time: 41 min
Total time: 12 h 43 min
Cuisine: Serbian
Ingredients: pork shoulder roast — 700 g; boneless beef chuck — 500 g; pork fat — 150 g; salt — 14 g; baking soda — 5 g; garlic — 12 g; freshly ground black pepper — 5 g; sweet paprika — 5 g; water — 120 g; flatbread — 720 g; onions — 300 g

Leskovački Ćevapi (Leskovac Grilled Minced Fingers) reads umami 7.2, richness 7.1 and allium 4.7 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Serbian main, about 12 hr 43 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 7.5 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 2.1 / 10
Sour & Bright — 0.7 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.1 / 10
Rich & Fat — 7.3 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.9 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.2 · Richness 7.1 · Allium 4.7 · Salinity 3.8 · Sweetness 2.0 · Warm Spice 1.6 · Bitterness 0.9 · Earthy 0.8 · Sourness 0.7 · Herbaceous 0.6 · Heat 0.6 · Nutty 0.5

What's in it (11)

pork shoulder roast — 700 g
boneless beef chuck — 500 g
pork fat — 150 g
salt — 14 g
baking soda — 5 g
garlic — 12 g
freshly ground black pepper — 5 g
sweet paprika — 5 g
water — 120 g
flatbread — 720 g
onions — 300 g

Time & effort: about 12 hr 43 min (41 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 239 kcal, 11.8 g protein, 16 g fat, 11.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

Put both minces and the minced back fat in a wide bowl with the salt, bicarbonate of soda, garlic, black pepper and paprika, and work the mixture hard with your hand for 6 minutes. It should go from crumbly to sticky and stretchy, and a handful should cling to your palm when you turn it upside down. That protein bind is why there is no egg and no breadcrumb here, and neither belongs in ćevapi.
Work in the ice-cold sparkling water in two additions, 2 minutes more.
Cover and rest in the fridge for 12 hours, and up to 24. The rest is not optional; it is what makes the texture springy rather than crumbly.
Shape into fingers about 6 cm long and 2 cm thick, either through a wide piping nozzle or by rolling them on a lightly oiled board. Keep them cold until the fire is ready.
Grill over hot charcoal for 10 minutes, turning once, until they are well marked and springy. Cut one open: it should be just cooked through and still juicy.
Rest 2 minutes off the fire.
Split the lepinje, warm them cut side down over the dying coals so they take up some fat, and serve five to a portion with a heap of raw chopped onion, and with ajvar and kajmak alongside.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Kotlet Schabowy (Breaded Pork Chop) — Polish
Cemita Poblana de Milanesa — Mexican · Puebla
Sarajevski Ćevapi (Sarajevo Beef Ćevapi with Somun) — Bosnian
Duck Confit (Confit de Canard) — French
Swedish Meat Balls — Other

Keep reading: what umami, richness, allium mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.