AI-generated image
Pyzy z mięsem
Pyzy z mięsem: Warsaw's big potato dumplings filled with pork, with onion and crackling
Old Warsaw's Praga district made pyzy famous: at the Bazar Różyckiego market, traders once ladled them hot from jars wrapped in blankets. These are large, soft balls of raw and boiled potato, filled with seasoned minced pork and topped with fried onion and crisp pork crackling (skwarki) that drips its fat over the plate. The outside is silky and slightly chewy, the middle savoury with marjoram. A glass of kefir or a bowl of sauerkraut salad cuts the richness. The pitfall is leaving too much water in the grated raw potato, so the dough is sticky and the dumplings fall apart. Chef's tip: let the squeezed potato liquid stand for 10 minutes, pour off the water and scrape the white starch at the bottom back into the dough; it binds everything for free.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb starchy potatoes, boiled and mashedcooled
- 3 tbsp potato starchplus extra as needed
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ tsp salt
For the filling
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 14 oz minced pork
- 1 garlic clovecrushed
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepperfreshly ground
For the topping
- 5 ½ oz smoked pork fatback or streaky baconfinely diced
- 1 onionfinely chopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Heat the 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the 1 onion for 6 minutes until soft. Add the 14 oz minced pork and fry for 8 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F. Stir in the 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp dried marjoram, ¾ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper, then cool.
15 minStep 2: Finely grate the 2 ¼ lb starchy potatoes, peeled (for grating) into a sieve lined with a clean cloth. Twist and squeeze hard over a bowl until no more liquid drips out; set the liquid aside for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 3: Pour the water off the potato liquid and keep the thick white starch at the bottom. Mix it with the grated potato, the 1 ⅛ lb starchy potatoes, boiled and mashed, 3 tbsp potato starch, 1 egg and 1 ½ tsp salt into a smooth, soft dough. Add a little more starch if it sticks to your hands.
6 minStep 4: With wet hands, take a piece of dough the size of a small orange, flatten it in your palm, put a tablespoon of filling in the middle and close the dough around it into a smooth ball. Make about 16.
15 minStep 5: Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then lower to a steady simmer. Add the pyzy in batches and stir gently so they do not stick to the base.
3 minStep 6: Once they float, simmer for 15 minutes more, until a cut one is cooked through with no raw, grey dough in the middle. Lift out with a slotted spoon.
18 minStep 7: Meanwhile fry the 5 ½ oz smoked pork fatback or streaky bacon in a dry pan over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the pieces are crisp and golden. Add the 1 onion and fry 5 minutes more until golden.
15 minStep 8: Pile the pyzy on warm plates and pour the hot crackling, onion and fat over them. Serve straight away.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 27 g
- Carbs
- 76 g
- Fat
- 30 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pyzy z mięsem take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 50 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of starchy potatoes, peeled (for grating)?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of starchy potatoes, boiled and mashed?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Tteokgalbi
Tteokgalbi is rib meat chopped finely, pressed back into neat slabs and grilled, so it's soft enough to eat without struggling with a bone. Two places in South Jeolla claim it: Damyang, the bamboo county, where all-beef patties come with rice steamed in bamboo tubes, and Gwangju's Songjeong district, whose restaurant street near the railway station mixes beef with pork. This home version uses minced beef and pork, seasoned with soy, garlic and pear, then brushed with a soy and honey glaze as it cooks. Serve with rice, lettuce and a few banchan; leftovers are good cold in a lunchbox. Chef's tip: slap the mince against the bowl for a few minutes; it turns sticky and the patties hold together on the grill without any breadcrumbs.
Korean
Char siu
Hanging in long glossy strips in the windows of Guangzhou's siu mei shops, char siu is the roast pork Cantonese families pick up on the way home to put on rice, noodles or into steamed buns. The outside is lacquered, sweet and a little charred at the edges; the inside stays juicy, savoury and faintly scented with five-spice. Shoulder (pork butt) is the cut to use, because its marbling keeps the strips moist through a hot oven. Marinate it overnight in the fridge, roast it the next day and eat it warm with steamed rice and blanched greens, or cold in fried rice and noodle soups. Chef's tip: save the honey for the last ten minutes; brushed on at the start it burns black long before the pork is cooked.
Chinese