Lithuanian cepelinai
Description
The recipe won't take much time. Briefly, cepelinai are like huge potato dumplings filled with meat, served with a traditional crackling sauce. This is a traditional, signature Lithuanian dish, by which every cook's culinary skill is judged. The dish is somewhat coarse, rustic, and looks simple, but believe me—eating a serving of authentic Lithuanian cepelinai will make you very happy. Serve hot.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Gather all the necessary ingredients on the table.
- 2
Step 2
Peel the onion. Finely chop one onion into small cubes, and cut the pork into small pieces as well.
- 3
Step 3
Pass the pieces of pork through a meat grinder, followed by the onion cubes. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and ground black pepper to the resulting meat mixture.
- 4
Step 4
Mix everything. Put the bowl with the prepared zeppelin filling in the refrigerator for now.
- 5
Step 5
Wash 400 grams of potatoes thoroughly and place them in a pot with water. Boil them in their skins until cooked.
- 6
Step 6
Peel and wash the remaining 1200 grams of potatoes.
- 7
Step 7
Grate all this potato on a fine grater.
- 8
Step 8
Place the potato mass onto four layers of gauze.
- 9
Step 9
Squeeze the potatoes by hand. You should be left with strained potato liquid in the bowl. Set the bowl aside on the table for 5-8 minutes to allow the potato starch to settle to the bottom during this time.
- 10
Step 10
You should also have a well-pressed potato mass left in the cheesecloth.
- 11
Step 11
Meanwhile, the potatoes "in their skins" have already been boiled and cooled slightly, so peel them, place in a convenient bowl, and mash with a potato masher into a puree.
- 12
Step 12
From the bowl with potato liquid, drain off all the liquid, leaving only the potato starch at the bottom. Add the squeezed potato mass to the mashed potatoes, then add the potato starch and 1/2 tsp of salt.
- 13
Step 13
Mix everything until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
- 14
Step 14
Dust the work surface with dry potato starch. Take a portion of the potato mixture in your palm, shape it into a patty, and place one tablespoon of the prepared meat filling in the center of this potato patty.
- 15
Step 15
Seal the edges and shape into a zeppelin.
- 16
Step 16
In the same way, prepare all the zeppelin dumplings and place them on the working surface with starch.
- 17
Step 17
In a large pot, bring water to a vigorous boil over medium heat and carefully place the zeppelins into the water. Since the zeppelin dough contains no eggs, the dumplings tend to fall apart, so handle them very carefully and place them in the water with plenty of space around each one. Cook the zeppelins for about 20 minutes.
- 18
Step 18
By this time, you will have time to prepare the sauce. Cut the bacon into small pieces and finely chop the second onion.
- 19
Step 19
Place the bacon pieces in a dry skillet and fry over medium heat until the fat renders out.
- 20
Step 20
Add the finely chopped onion. Fry everything together, stirring with a spatula, until the onion is cooked. It should become soft and slightly golden.
- 21
Step 21
Add sour cream.
- 22
Step 22
Mix everything and heat over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- 23
Step 23
Remove the zeppelins from boiling water with a slotted spoon, place them on a serving plate, top with the prepared sauce, garnish with finely chopped green onions, and serve.
- 24
Step 24
Done.