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Siberian Pelmeni

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Siberian Pelmeni

Siberian Pelmini
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Siberian Pelmini is the star of this story, but let’s fill in the background. Preparing for a trip to Portland, Oregon, I polished up my high school Russian, but I found no one that spoke the language at Kachka. Frankly, they had difficulty understanding my Arkanese, but defaulting to King’s English proved successful. Despite the communication difficulty it didn’t stop them from serving a magnificent dinner.  Between the three of us we sampled most everything on the menu. Who knew Russian cuisine could taste so good. Or was it the vodka? Yes, there was vodka.

My friend received the Kachka cookbook as a birthday gift and we chose siberian pelmini, little meat dumplings, as our first dish to recreate. He found the mold to shape the dumplings and adjika, the spicy Russian hot sauce via the internet. Thank goodness for the internet.
I provided critical supervision and impeccable bar service to the cook,  who has a proclivity for martinis. With that disclaimer, here follows the step-by-step recipe for making siberian pelmini, unbelievably wonderful bites of flavor.
  • Author: TJ

Ingredients

Scale

Adjika Butter – mix until incorporated

  • 1 part adjika sauce
  • 3 parts unsalted butter

Siberian Pelmeni Sauce – mix until melted by gently tossing with cooked Pelmeni

  • 1 TBL adjika butter
  • 1 tsp white vinegar – to taste
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • Adjika sauce – to taste

Condiments

  • Sour cream
  • Chopped chives
  • Parsley and/or celery leaf – chopped

Dough = 156 pelmini dumplings

  • 3.5 cups AP flour
  • 1 TBL kosher salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup plus 1-2 TBL cold water

Meat Filling

  • 1/2 lb Each: ground beef, ground veal and ground pork
  • 1/2 onion finely grated with liquid
  • 2/3 cup ice cold water
  • 1 TBL plus 1 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Pelmini Dough

Siberian Pelmini doughMixing siberian pelmini dough

  1.  Mix the flour and salt
  2. Add the egg and begin mixing on slow speed
  3. Drizzle the water in while mixing and mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated
  4. Knead in the mixer on slow 10 more minutes into a smooth elastic ball
  5. Wrap  tightly in plastic wrap or place in covered container
  6. Rest at room temp for one hour
  7. Divide into 8 equal, individual balls (4 tops and 4 bottoms) when ready to assemble

Meat Filling

  1. Mix all ingredients in a mixer with a paddle attachment until it comes together. You want the fat to emulsify which will incorporate all the water and onion liquid and coat everything with a nice fat smeared sheen. If you grab a pinch it will feel very sticky
  2. Warning: under or over processing will make it too dry
  3. It should only take about 2 minutes to mix
  4. Refrigerate in a pastry piping bag until ready to assemble

Siberian Pelmini filling

Assembly

Filling on dough

Sealing the dumplings Finished dumplings

  1. With a rolling pin, roll a ball of dough into a sheet large enough to cover the pelmenitsa mold, dust both sides with flour to prevent sticking
  2. Dust the pelmenista mold with flour
  3. Pipe filling into each depression
  4. Roll another dough ball into a sheet large enough to cover the mold
  5. Spray a water mist over the filled lower half or lightly brush water on the lower dough. This will seal them when you combine the two dough halves
  6. Use a rolling pin to press the two halves together and seal the pelmeni
  7. Remove excess dough
  8. Carefully poke them out and dust with flour to prevent sticking
  9. Set aside (can be frozen for later use)
  10. Repeat the process until the filling and dough are used up

Cooking

Boiling dumplings

  1. Prepare a pot of lightly salted and gently boiling water
  2. Boil the pelmeni for 5 or 6 minutes until done. Test before serving
  3. Remove and drain in a colander

Serving

Siberian Pelmini

  1. While hot, gently toss pelmeni in the Adjika butter with the remaining sauce ingredients
  2. Adjust spiciness to taste with more Adjika sauce if desired
  3. Serve 10-15 pelmini per person
  4. Sprinkle the minced chives or add a few parsley/celery leaves
  5. Add a small dollop of sour cream
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