Madimak is a wild green that appears in spring markets in Sivas and Tokat. Its best-known preparation is sautéed with yogurt, but in this dish it is cooked with ground beef and onion. The greens are first blanched and squeezed dry; blanching softens them and mellows their sharp raw flavor. Serve with garlic yogurt.
Trim the roots and thick, tough stems, keeping the leafy, tender stems. Wash three times in plenty of water.
Blanch the madimak in boiling water for 4–5 minutes, then drain and discard the water. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze it dry by hand and chop coarsely.
Cook the ground beef in butter over medium heat until it releases its liquid and the liquid evaporates. No pink should remain; the cooked beef will exceed 71°C / 160°F.
Add the finely chopped onion and soften for 5 minutes. Stir in the pepper paste and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the madimak, salt, and Turkish red pepper flakes, and stir. Cover and cook over low heat for 8–10 minutes.
Whisk the yogurt with the crushed garlic. Serve alongside or spooned over the hot madimak.
Buy madimak (Polygonum cognatum) from a market, or gather it only after learning to identify it from someone knowledgeable. Never forage unfamiliar plants or gather them by roadsides or from treated fields, and always discard the blanching water. Allergens: contains milk and dairy products. Check packaged ingredient labels for other allergens.
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