Every country probably has its own take on the recipe for meatballs, and Germany has one too. Called ‘Frikadellen’, ‘Buletten’ or ‘Fleischpfllanzerl’ depending which part of the country they’re from, they pair marvelously with another German favorite: Potato salad. DW Food chef Felicitas Then and her Chilean guest Franco Loos show us how they’re made, in a new episode of Cook It Like A German.
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Meatballs with Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients for 4 servings, Prep and Cook time: approx. 1h
For the Potato Salad
600 g Potatoes, primarily waxy
Salt
Caraway seeds
2 bay leaves
1 small onion
100 ml Vegetable stock
1 tsp. hot mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1 - 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
4 tbsp. neutral oil
Black pepper, freshly ground
6 radishes
6 Cornichons
1 bowl garden cress
Wash the potatoes and bring water to a boil. Add salt, the caraway seeds and bay leaves and boil until tender, 20-25 min. Drain the potatoes and allow to cool for a little bit. Once the potatoes are just cool enough to handle, peel and cut them into slices. Finely dice the onion. Then add to the warm vegetable stock, add mustard, sugar, vinegar and oil and mix with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and let it sit at room temperature. Then, thinly slice the radishes and cornichons, and add to the potatoes with the garden cress.
For the Buletten (German Meatballs)
1 bread roll
200 ml milk
1 onion
1 tsp. butter
2 tsp. hot mustard
2 tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
Chili powder
Nutmeg, freshly grated
Salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
400 g ground meat (mixed)
1 Egg
3 tbsp. breadcrumbs
5 tbsp. oil
First, soak the bread roll in milk. Finely dice the onion and sauté in 1 tsp. butter. Mix the ground meat with the onions, mustard, parsley, chili, nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Take the soaked roll and squeeze in your hands to remove most of the liquid. Then add to the bowl with the ground beef, alongside egg. Next, use your hands to shape little meat balls from the mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the meat balls on both sides until they are crispy and cooked through. Pat the meatballs with paper towels to get rid of any excess oil and serve with potato salad.
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