The first time I had pelmeni (Russian: Пельмени) was in Logan, Utah. I'd gone up to go on a double date that my friend Ben was setting me up on. When I went to pick up my date, her roommate was eating pelmeni with a guy who served his mission [1] in Russia. They had more than they could eat, so they offered us some. They were pretty good. Often translated as 'dumplings' [2], pelmeni are similar to and possibly derived from Chinese wontons.[3] They are traditionally eaten with a cucumber and tomato salad (but we ate ours with chopped spinach). Be warned, it took Leann and me over three hours to make these.
INGREDIENTS
Dough:
Mix flour, water, eggs, and salt together to make the dough. Add more flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky. Cover with a cotton cloth and allow to rest about 30 minutes.
For the filling, mix together the beef, pork, onion, garlic, milk, mushrooms, sage, and salt.
Make 1/2-inch balls and roll out into very thin circles, about 2 inches in diameter.[8]
Place a small spoonful of the filling in the center of the dough. Brush with egg white.
Fold over and pinch together the edges, trapping the meat inside.
Pull the corners down and pinch together. You've now made one pelmen.
Continue doing this until you've used up all the meat and dough. (Hopefully one doesn't happen before the other). The recipes I based this on claimed to make 100–150 pelmeni.
Bring water or beef broth to a boil in a large pot. Drop the pelmeni in and boil for 10 minutes, until the meat is done.[9]
Remove from water and drain. At this point my pelmeni looked like little brains. Mmm!
Briefly fry in a little oil to make them crispy.[10]
Eat the pelmeni by dipping them in sour cream [11], hot mustard, horseradish sauce, ketchup, melted butter, white vinegar, lemon juice, and/or reduced sodium soy sauce.
Notes:
[1] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.
[2] Literally, though, the word pelmeni means "bread-ear". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelmeni#Origin and history.
[3] For dumplings from other cultures, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpling.
[4] Other fillings I've seen suggested include bacon, fish, ham, moose, mutton, mushrooms, onions, turnips, sauerkraut, cheese, cottage cheese (technically called pierogi), potatoes (technically called vareniki), etc.
[5] I'm not sure the mushrooms actually contributed anything to the flavor of the pelmeni. I think you can safely omit them.
[6] This is supposed to keep the filling juicy, but since you boil these and water gets in despite your best-laid plans, the milk is probably unnecessary.
[7] Most recipes called for dill, but I don't like dill so I used sage instead. I also found recipes that called for thyme, pepper, and/or marjoram. I couldn't actually tell that there was any sage and Leann said she could barely tell it was there, so you might want to try a little more. However, it's not that important since most of the flavor will come from the condiments you dip the pelmeni in.
[8] Mine turned out really big, so you may need to make them even smaller than this. The final product (according to Wikipedia) should be 2–3 centimeters wide.
[9] Make as many as you want for one sitting and freeze the rest. To do this, spread them out on a plate so that they're not touching. Put the plate in the freezer until they are frozen. Then collect them and put them in a freezer bag. If you put them in the freezer bag before freezing them, they'll all stick together and be almost impossible to separate when they come back out. I learned this the hard way.
[10] This step helps the pelmeni to not be so soggy. This was a suggestion from Ryan VanYperen, who works as a graduate student in Dr. Griffitts' lab with me. He served his mission in the Ukraine, where pelmeni are frequently eaten.
[11] You're technically supposed to use smetana (Russian: сметана; a soured heavy cream), but that's not readily available around here. You can also substitute with crema (Mexican table cream) or crème fraîche (a French soured cream). Thanks to Melissa who gave us some of the condiment bowls!
INGREDIENTS
Dough:
- 3 c. flour
- 1 c. water
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 lb. ground beef [4]
- 1/2 lb. ground pork [4]
- 4 porcini mushrooms, finely chopped [5]
- 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped and sautéed
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/8 c. milk [6]
- 1/4 tsp. sage [7]
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1–2 egg whites
- condiments (see list below)
Mix flour, water, eggs, and salt together to make the dough. Add more flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky. Cover with a cotton cloth and allow to rest about 30 minutes.
For the filling, mix together the beef, pork, onion, garlic, milk, mushrooms, sage, and salt.
Make 1/2-inch balls and roll out into very thin circles, about 2 inches in diameter.[8]
Place a small spoonful of the filling in the center of the dough. Brush with egg white.
Fold over and pinch together the edges, trapping the meat inside.
Pull the corners down and pinch together. You've now made one pelmen.
Continue doing this until you've used up all the meat and dough. (Hopefully one doesn't happen before the other). The recipes I based this on claimed to make 100–150 pelmeni.
Bring water or beef broth to a boil in a large pot. Drop the pelmeni in and boil for 10 minutes, until the meat is done.[9]
Remove from water and drain. At this point my pelmeni looked like little brains. Mmm!
Briefly fry in a little oil to make them crispy.[10]
Eat the pelmeni by dipping them in sour cream [11], hot mustard, horseradish sauce, ketchup, melted butter, white vinegar, lemon juice, and/or reduced sodium soy sauce.
Notes:
[1] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.
[2] Literally, though, the word pelmeni means "bread-ear". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelmeni#Origin and history.
[3] For dumplings from other cultures, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpling.
[4] Other fillings I've seen suggested include bacon, fish, ham, moose, mutton, mushrooms, onions, turnips, sauerkraut, cheese, cottage cheese (technically called pierogi), potatoes (technically called vareniki), etc.
[5] I'm not sure the mushrooms actually contributed anything to the flavor of the pelmeni. I think you can safely omit them.
[6] This is supposed to keep the filling juicy, but since you boil these and water gets in despite your best-laid plans, the milk is probably unnecessary.
[7] Most recipes called for dill, but I don't like dill so I used sage instead. I also found recipes that called for thyme, pepper, and/or marjoram. I couldn't actually tell that there was any sage and Leann said she could barely tell it was there, so you might want to try a little more. However, it's not that important since most of the flavor will come from the condiments you dip the pelmeni in.
[8] Mine turned out really big, so you may need to make them even smaller than this. The final product (according to Wikipedia) should be 2–3 centimeters wide.
[9] Make as many as you want for one sitting and freeze the rest. To do this, spread them out on a plate so that they're not touching. Put the plate in the freezer until they are frozen. Then collect them and put them in a freezer bag. If you put them in the freezer bag before freezing them, they'll all stick together and be almost impossible to separate when they come back out. I learned this the hard way.
[10] This step helps the pelmeni to not be so soggy. This was a suggestion from Ryan VanYperen, who works as a graduate student in Dr. Griffitts' lab with me. He served his mission in the Ukraine, where pelmeni are frequently eaten.
[11] You're technically supposed to use smetana (Russian: сметана; a soured heavy cream), but that's not readily available around here. You can also substitute with crema (Mexican table cream) or crème fraîche (a French soured cream). Thanks to Melissa who gave us some of the condiment bowls!
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