Frozen Trail Food · Meat Dumpling
Pelmeni
Photo: Eugene Kim / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Siberian hunters used to make thousands of pelmeni at once and freeze them outdoors in sacks for months at a time — a natural deep-freezer that let a single autumn of work feed a household all winter.
Pelmeni are small dumplings of thin dough wrapped around a filling of minced meat, usually a mix of beef and pork, pinched shut into a distinctive ear-like fold, then boiled and served with a knob of butter, sour cream, or vinegar. Market vendors and roadside stalls across Siberia sell them frozen by the kilo or boiled to order in disposable cups.
Why it's made this way: The dish likely traces back to Finno-Ugric and Komi peoples of the Ural and West Siberian region, whose name for it — literally 'ear bread' — is still the root of the modern Russian word.
More from Russia
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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