A Traditional Siberian Dumpling: Pelmeni

preparing the pelmeni dough

Begin with the dough, a slow and lingering process. Dump two cups of flour onto your counter, making a well in the flour’s center, and place six egg yolks into the well along with a dash unrefined sea salt.

Mix the dough together by hand, adding whey and stirring until no clumps of flour remain.

Place the dough in a covered bowl and allow it to rest at room temperature for two to three days.Take care, every day, to flour your hands, punch down the dough, add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of additional flour and knead the dough for about five to ten minutes.On the third day, after you’ve fed the pelmeni dough with flour and kneaded it well, flour counters and role the dough into a long snake about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.Allow the dough to rest while you prepare the pelmeni filling.preparing the pelmeni filling & finishing the pelmeni

As the pelmeni dough rests, combine the ground meats together with one finely minced yellow onion and set aside.Pinch about one scant teaspoon dough from the pelmeni snake, flatten it into a circle and roll it out very thin – about 1/16th of an inch.

Place the about one teaspoon pelmeni filling into the center of the rolled dough, fold in half, securing the edges of the pelmeni together so that it doesn’t open up when subjected to the rigors of boiling. Continue working the pelmeni dough and filling in this fashion until they’re both exhausted.Bring two quarts homemade beef stock or salted water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and drop the filled and secured pelmeni into the pot to boil, working in batches of six to eight pelmeni so as not to overburden the pot.Allow pelmeni to simmer in the stock or salted water until they rise to the surface of their own accord, about three to four minutes, then remove them from the pot and set them aside as you continue working in batches until you’ve cooked all the pelmeni.

Serve the pelmeni warm, topped with sour cream or crème fraïche, fresh snipped dill and seasoned to taste with a sprinkling of unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.