It’s funny how such a delicious thing as a meat doughnut is barely known outside Finland. In Germany people can hardly imagine what these things might taste like (“Doughnut filled with mince meat – you guys crazy?”), whereas in Finland they can be found in every grocery store. And for many years did our family buy them from the store, but about a year ago my mother decided to test this recipe. And it worked magic!
Well, as I visited Finland she showed me how to make these and since on the First of May we are anyway frying normal sweet doughnuts, it’s not that much of a difference making a few meat doughnuts as well. Makes good use of the frying oil and it’s definitely worth the trouble. So, feel encouraged to making them:
Meat doughnuts (about 15 pieces)
Filling:
about 1 dl pudding rice
1 big onion
400g mincemeat
salt or stock cube, allspice, paprika-powder, black pepper, big garlic clove
1. Cook the pudding rice in water.
2. Dice the onion, fry the meat, add the onion dices and cook ’till softened.
3. Spice to your liking. I’d say rather a bit too much flavor than too few, since the crust makes it milder.
4. Let the filling cool down properly while preparing the crust.
Crust:
4dl milk
30g fresh yeast
2-3 tbs oil
1 tbs sugar
1,5 ts salt
about 9,5 dl flour
1. Warm the milk ’till lukewarm.
2. Dissolve the yeast, sugar and salt into it.
3. Add the flour, kneading as you do so. When the dough is nice and firm, mix in the oil. Knead ’till smooth.
4. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Making the meat doughnuts:
some flour
1-1 1/2 l oil
1. Once your dough has rested and your filling has cooled down, you can start forming the pies.
2. Pour the dough onto a floured working surface and roll out the edge towards you. It’s nice to work like this, rolling out the dough as you go. Saves space.
3. Having rolled out a part of the dough, place nice big spoonfuls of the filling in the middle of it, leaving about a 5cm gap between each.
4. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling and shape gently around, so that you can see where the filling is.
5. Then cut the doughnuts out using a little plate. The edge seals the seam as it cuts, and there won’t be any doughnuts opening during the frying.
6. Once finished, heat up the oil. You can test, if it’s warm enough with little pieces of white bread. If the bread browns nicely in about a minute, the oil is ready for cooking.
7. Fry the meat doughnuts. Gently place them onto the oil (watch your fingers!), about 2-3 at a time. Turn around once brown, and fry the other side. Don’t let your oil get too hot either, or the doughnuts will be undercooked.
8. Place the fried doughnuts on top of some kitchen paper, for it will suck the excess oil. Then move them into a nice mold or box for serving.
9. Serve with ketchup, cucumber relish, little sausages or sausage slices… or eat them just like that. Best when warm, but not bad cold either.
And yeah, made some doughnuts, too. Here’s one with caramel icing for Carlos. And my mead turned out good, too, though mother still makes the best one.
Marika~
Bread with bubbles 