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Market Stall · Fried Cheese Pancake

Syrniki

Syrniki — street food from Ukraine
Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

The name comes straight from "syr," the Ukrainian word for cheese — a linguistic fingerprint the fritters still carry today.

Syrniki are small, thick pancakes made by binding fresh farmer's cheese with egg, a little flour, and sugar, then pan-frying them until the outside turns golden and crisp while the center stays soft. Market cafes and street kiosks serve them stacked on a paper plate with sour cream, honey, or fruit preserves spooned over the top.

Why it's made this way: Recipes for fried curd-cheese cakes like these appear in Slavic cookbooks going back to the 16th century, and the dish's name preserves "syr," the old word for curd cheese still used in Ukrainian today.

Roughly what's in it

340kcal
16gprotein
35gcarbs
15gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.