Siberia is 77% of Russia by area - a country which spans 9 time zones, and Siberia comprises nearly 10% of the earth's surface. And it used to be bigger.
Federated (official) Siberia today is in red, while geographically-aligned Siberia is indicated in red/orange. Historically, Siberia has extended as far east as the Kuril Islands - a chain of 56 islands north of Japan in the Sakhalin Oblast (indicated in tan).
The largest city in Siberia is Russia's third largest - Novosibirsk (Новосибирск), which means "New Siberia". The Southern Siberian city of Novosibirsk is on the same approximate latitude as Moscow (Москва). Most of Siberia is taiga (тайга́) or ice forest - the same as most of Canada and Alaska. Siberia can certainly get very cold, however, and the coldest point in the Northern Hemisphere is listed as Oymyakon (Оймяко́н), Republic of Sakha, a Siberian village of 500 people (-89.9° F)
Pelmeni (пельме́ни) are small (2-3cm) dumplings filled with minced meat and/or vegetables. Traditionally, pelmeni satisfied several important needs on the taiga - they are non-perishable when dried, easily and quickly prepared, and if they're created before winter, the difficult task of feeding animals throughout the frozen season is avoided. Pelmeni's size sets them apart - since they're small, there's a higher proportion of filling to flour dough, which tends to concentrate the flavor.
Component
|
Ingredients
|
Filling |
pork, lamb, beef, fish, mushrooms, onions, turnips, sour cabbage |
Spices and Aromatics |
salt, pepper, dill, parsely, mint, onion |
Sauce |
clear broth, melted butter, sour cream, mustard, horseradish, tomato sauce, vinegar |
Cooking Techniques |
boiled, fried, steamed |
Unlike Ukrainian
vareniki (варе́ники) or Polish pierogi, traditional pelmeni are never served sweet.
A pelmeni mold is made out of durable plastic, and only costs a few rubles. It's all you'll need - you most likely already have everything else that's required.
Other suggested items include:
Italian Dough Press.
Spring handle scoop spoon – I chose 4mm.
Rolling Pin.
Making pelmeni, it turned out, was precision work. Sizes of things matter, and a little too much water in the dough will reward you with a mess and a reparation project. This is a dish that insists on exactitude, but lavishes you with great pleasure when you get things right. Thus, kitchen gadgets which increase your precision come recommended, and I’ll go so far as to suggest that you’ll find that a partner who’s working on another phase in the process along side you would be more than welcome.
Dough
I can’t do any better than Olga and Natasha, so I’ll simply reference them – you’ll be in good hands. They are friends, both with cooking blogs, with two slighly different approaches to pelmeni dough. Both approaches yield a lovely dough product. Natasha’s dough is tougher and a bit more traditional, in that it has that glutinous noodly “bite” which you’d immediately associate with traditional pelmeni. Olga’s buttery approach yields a soft, easy to manipulate dough that tastes every bit as good, but it makes your job easier.
Filling
Now for the filling,
I went with Olga’s approach (большое спасибо, Olga!). I went with one pound each of ground beef and ground pork, lots of very finely minced onion, salt, pepper, cabbage and fresh dill. I didn’t use any garlic, only because it’s not very traditional. Make sure everything is ground finely – big pieces might punch holes in your dough.
Molding Pelmeni
Natasha perfectly demonstrates how to use a common pelmeni mold, so with her kind permission, I’ll borrow some of her images (большое спасибо, Natasha!).
Place the filling in the exact center, and don’t use too much – you’ll risk tearing the dough. Seat each one deep into its “nest”.
Roll out a top piece and use your rolling pin to make a seal.
Invert your mold and tease out the completed pelmeni.
Pelmeni, ready for freezing. More specifically – freeze drying. In October/November in Siberia, it would already be around 10F above zero for most of the day, and colder still at night. The pelmeni crew would build long low (less than a foot high) slatted tables that rather looked like a wide sidewalk, and that’s where each pelmeni would be carefully and individually placed. The net result is that the cold mountain pass wind would dry them, and the low temperature would quickly freeze them, and there you have it – possibly the first freeze-dried food product. At this point, the pelmeni would be hard as nuts, and they’d fill great sacks for safekeeping over the long Siberian winter.
Sauce
Easy – only two ingredients. Melted butter and lemon juice. Use these tips and tricks to perfect your sauce. First, too much lemon, and you’ll get lemon butter. Too much butter, and you’ll get butter that tastes like lemon. The right balance says “sauce”. Basically, the rule of thumb of any dressing (and this sauce is a true dressing) is two parts oleaginous ingredients (fats or oils) to one part acid (lemon juice or vinegar). Think 'vinaigrette' - it's the same way.
Assembly
Pelmeni signifies a lot of initial preparation, but cooking and final assembly is beyond easy. Pelmeni is sometimes pan fried first, then boiled (seldom steamed), but it’s usually just instantly boiled. They’re small – should only take a minute or two. Add the sauce and garnish with fresh dill and a dollop of sour cream, and you’ll understand the magic. The filling really stands out in pelmeni, and the noodle dough compliments it perfectly. There’s nothing quite like it!