The recipe for Koenigsberg bedbugs came to Russia from Germany. Klops are ordinary meatballs stewed in sauce, but the German name whets the appetite more when viewing restaurant menu. To eat real bed bugs, it is not necessary to go to Berlin, they can be tasted in many restaurants, and it will not be difficult to cook such meatballs at home.
How are bed bugs prepared in Germany?
The recipe for Koenigsberg bedbugs among the Germans is as follows:
They take meat, most often pork is used, in Germany they respect it very much. The minced meat is scrolled, “yesterday's” bun soaked in milk is added to it. Next, deliberately fried onions are put in the minced meat, the eggs are beaten and also sent to the minced meat.
Such meatballs are traditionally stewed in a broth prepared as follows:
- In water, boil a whole, peeled onion, parsley, allspice peas, lemon peel, bay leaf, capers.
- Flour is fried in oil, added to the broth.
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon, and also pour it into the sauce.
Traditionally, Koenigsberg bedbugs, the recipes of which we will consider in other variations, are served with a side dish of boiled potatoes and pickled beets.
Today, there are many ways to cook bedbugs, which are presented as Koenigsberg, and there is no lie in this. We only looked traditional version, but the Germans themselves have others.
Calorie content of the dish
Concerning energy value, it will vary depending on the ingredients used. For example, if we take traditional recipe, which uses pork, then approximate calorie content will be 380 kcal per 100 grams of finished bedbugs.
If you use beef with pork or just beef, then there will be fewer calories. If you take poultry or fish for minced meat, then the dish can be eaten even by people on a diet.
Where to eat Koenigsberg bugs in Kaliningrad?
Why in Kaliningrad? Yes, because it is in this city that dishes according to German recipes are glorified (Kaliningrad used to be called Koenigsberg, belonged to East Prussia). For example, tourists never leave Kaliningrad without trying three of the most popular dishes, this is:
- Smoked eel.
- Königsberg bugs.
- Koenigsberg marzipans.
It just so happened historically that the western region of Russia owes its gastronomy to its German past, it is Koenigsberg cuisine that prevails here - hearty, tasty and nutritious.
Previously, there was no such dish as bedbugs on the menu, they served different kinds meatballs. But the fashion for "bugs" has taken its toll, and now there is probably not even a simple cafe where you could not taste this simple dish with an intriguing name.
But we will not go to either Germany or Kaliningrad to feast on Koenigsberg bedbugs. The recipe for these meatballs is easy enough to make at home. You have already seen the first option, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with no less simple and interesting ones.
Bed bugs from mixed minced meat
Klops recipe from mixed minced meat more focused on Russians, because we are not used to scrolling clean pork, it is a little fatty for us. By adding beef, we will make the minced meat less fat, but no less juicy, and you can argue about the taste - it will be tastier!
Ingredients:
- 300 grams of pork;
- 300 grams of beef;
- half a glass of breadcrumbs;
- 2 chicken eggs;
- 2 spoons of mustard;
- tablespoon butter;
- bulb;
- 3-4 anchovies;
- 30 grams of salted gherkins;
- a tablespoon of flour;
- a glass of 20% cream;
- salt and pepper.
In the absence of anchovies in the refrigerator, we can do without them.
The process is:
- Break the eggs into a bowl, grind the anchovies with them, beat a little with a whisk.
- We scroll the meat through a meat grinder, put chopped onions, eggs with anchovies, two tablespoons of prepared mustard, salt, pepper into the minced meat. We mix everything well.
- Next, pour into minced meat breadcrumbs, knead, beat off, throwing on the table. This way the German meatballs will be more airy.
- Roll into small balls - portioned meatballs should fit entirely in your mouth.
- Pour water into a saucepan, place the bugs in them. Water should only cover the balls, you do not need to pour a lot of it. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the bedbugs from the broth, but do not pour out the broth, it will go into the sauce.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, add flour to it, stirring quickly, fry until a reddish hue.
- Pour the cream into the pan with flour in a thin stream, stir so that no lumps form.
- Pour the broth into the cream with flour. Put the salted gherkins, a little salt and pepper, cook for 3 minutes after boiling over low heat.
- Put the bugs in the sauce, simmer for 10 minutes, closing the lid.
Bed bugs from poultry meat
We offer for consideration a recipe for making chicken or turkey clops - which meat is preferable for you, then take it, any meatballs will turn out delicious!
Products for bedbugs:
- 600 grams of chicken or turkey fillet;
- 2 liters of water;
- bulb;
- 60 grams of capers;
- 50 grams of pancetta;
- two chicken eggs;
- 150 grams of a loaf;
- a pinch of sugar;
- salt and ground pepper;
- a tablespoon of marjoram, a teaspoon of ground paprika;
- 4 tablespoons of lemon juice;
- a little more than half a glass of dry white wine;
- 50 grams of butter;
- half a glass of 20% cream;
- two tablespoons of flour;
- salt and pepper;
- a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce.
Cooking bed bugs
For cooking:
- Turn the onion and meat through a meat grinder, the grate should be fine. Add salt and pepper, marjoram and paprika, soaked bread, eggs, mix well.
- Grind half of the capers, add to the minced meat. If the consistency turned out to be somewhat liquid (should be thicker than cutlets), you will need to add more bread or breadcrumbs.
- Form meatballs.
- Prepare the broth: put the bay leaf, lemon juice, sugar, salt and a few peas of allspice into the water. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce the heat, carefully put the bugs in it, cook until tender for 10-15 minutes (meatballs will float).
- Put the bugs in a bowl separate from the broth, start preparing the sauce.
- From the broth in which the bugs were boiled, you need to take half a liter. The rest can be poured.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan. Fry flour in it.
- Pour in the cream, stock and wine, and bring to a boil, stirring.
- Grind the second half of the capers, send to the sauce. Pour in the Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Boil 5 minutes after boiling.
- Remove the sauce from the heat, put the bugs in it, let it brew for 15 minutes, then you can serve.
fish meatballs
The recipe for fish bugs is not traditional, but this will not hurt us. In the distant past, fish was an everyday meal in Königsberg, since there is a lot of it there. But meat was served only on Sunday or on special days. And so it got accustomed - on weekdays dishes from fish, on holidays and at the weekend - from meat.
To prepare such meatballs, it is advisable to take the traditional fish of Kaliningrad - eel. In the absence of such, we will use the fillet of sturgeon, Baltic herring or herring.
Ingredients:
- a pound of fillet of any fish indicated above;
- lemon;
- bulb;
- 30 grams of capers;
- one egg;
- salt and pepper;
- salt spoon of butter;
- half a glass of dry white wine;
- a spoonful of Worcestershire sauce;
- half a glass of cream;
- a tablespoon of flour;
- a pinch of sugar;
- 100 grams of white bread.
Cooking fish meatballs
- Grind the fillet into minced meat, add bread soaked in water, but squeezed out, salt and pepper, an egg.
- Finely chop the onion, fry sunflower oil and mix with minced meat.
- Form meatballs, boil in a small amount water.
- Prepare the sauce: fry the flour in butter, pour in the cream, half a glass of broth, where the bugs were cooked, cook for 5 minutes. Next, pour in the wine, add a little sugar and salt, chopped capers, cook again for 5 minutes.
- When sauce is ready, stir in Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.
- Fold the meatballs with the sauce, let it brew for 10 minutes to soak.
The famous Königsberg bugs are meatballs in white cream sauce with capers a traditional dish German cuisine, which is obvious from the name of the dish: once Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad) was a significant East Prussian city.
Initially, this dish was served on Sundays or holidays, in completely non-poor families. It was made from finely chopped veal meat, while the meat was beaten for a long time with a wooden hammer so that the minced meat acquired the desired consistency, because the meat grinder, at that time, had not yet been invented. Hence the name, which comes from the old German word "kloppen", which in translation meant "clap, beat, beat."
There are many variations in the preparation of this dish: with or without wine, with the addition of salted fish(anchovies, sardines, herring) or without, using lemon juice or table vinegar instead, with minced beef, pork or mixed, with the addition of capers only in the sauce or also in minced meat. This is a matter of taste and mood. But cream and capers remain unchanged and indispensable components of the recipe: without them it is impossible to cook that very tender and delicious sauce with sourness, which gives the dish an exquisite taste.
I offer you a recipe for Königsberg bedbugs, according to which I have been preparing this dish for more than 1 year. I took a recipe from a German cookbook as a basis, slightly changing the composition and cooking technology.
The famous Koenigsberg bugs, no less famous marzipans, flecks - Koenigsberg cuisine was known throughout Europe and became an ornament in the history of German cuisine! Today for you is a recipe for Koenigsberg bedbugs. They were forgotten in the Soviet years, but lately city dwellers are happy to remember old recipes, and in some restaurants you can already taste traditional Koenigsberg cuisine.
Koenigsberg bugs - recipe
Not a single holiday could do without them - every self-respecting German hostess pleased her family with a delicious dish. On the New Year they were prepared necessarily and were the main decoration holiday table. A dish of Königsberg cuisine - bedbugs, this meatballs, or meatballs made from meat. By the way, Koenigsberg bedbugs are still sold in Germany in tin cans.
To prepare Koenigsberg bugs you will need:
- Minced beef or veal - 500 gr.,
- dry bun or piece of bread for toast,
- 1 egg
- 1 onion
- 3 anchovy fillets in oil
- butter - 1 tablespoon
- salt, pepper to taste.
For sauce:
- Vegetable broth - 1 liter,
- cream - 200 ml.,
- 1 lemon
- capers (together with vinegar) - 2 tablespoons,
- butter - 1 tbsp. a spoon,
- dry white wine,
- flour - 1 tbsp. a spoon,
- cayenne pepper, sugar.
How to cook Koenigsberg bugs according to this recipe:
- Mix minced meat with a bun soaked in milk, add an egg, salt, pepper there. Finely chop the onion, fry, add the anchovies washed from salt and crushed with a fork and mix well with minced meat.
- It is good to beat off the whole mass and form meatballs - large meatballs, or, as we call, bugs.
- In a hot broth (you can also take meat), boil the bugs for 15 minutes and put them in a separate bowl, and add cream to the broth.
Sauce: fry the flour in butter, gradually adding the broth, while stirring well so that there are no lumps. Gradually add lemon juice, lemon zest, wine and capers. The last step is salt, pepper and add the Worcestershire sauce. If desired, you can add a little sugar.
We put the bedbugs in the sauce and cook everything together a little (to warm up). Serve with potatoes, pickled beets and pickles!
The history of German cuisine is rich in unusual recipes. Bed bugs were festive dish Koenigsberg cuisine, but fish was everyday food. There were a lot of fish - Baltic herring, eel, herring, sturgeon. There were so many salmon that the magistrate allowed it to be sold only two days a week, so as not to bring down prices. (Somehow, perhaps, I will write about the fish separately - incredibly interesting).
This eel is now a delicacy. And before there was so much of it that it swam right off the coast and even crawled out onto the sand. The first settlers who arrived in our region after 1945 did not appreciate it at first, and probably did not know this fish. I remember well how my mother once brought an eel and said in confusion: "They say it's delicious." And I was apprehensive about trying it for the first time. Soon he disappeared - not only I tasted it!
The townspeople knew dozens of dishes from it. The most famous: fish in beer and ruff soup.
Ruff soup:
For 500gr. ruffs, you need 1.25 liters. water. Celery, parsley, onion, carrot, parsley, cloves and black pepper, 2 tbsp. tablespoons butter, flour, lemon, 2 egg yolks, salt. It seems like I haven't forgotten anything.
The fish was cut into fillets. Chopped vegetables were thrown into boiling water, ruff fillet was lowered large pieces, cooked for half an hour. Then they filtered through a fine sieve (rubbed), seasoned with butter, raw yolks, added parsley, salt, pepper, cloves, lemon juice to taste, and added broth. That's it, the soup is ready.
Fish in beer:
It was necessary to mix half a liter of water with the same amount of dark beer, when the mixture boils, throw fish into it and cook for 15-20 minutes. When the fish is cooked, add salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, celery, butter, potato flour. And ... attention! ... a few gingerbread, softened and pounded in warm water. A little, a couple of minutes to cook and voila - the fish is ready. Garnish for fish - boiled potatoes.
Koenigsberg fleck was known since the 16th century and was popular not only among the common people. This traditional Prussian dish was not festive, it was prepared for everyday eating. On the streets of the city. in small city markets, you could always buy fleck prepared without much fuss.
Cooking is not difficult: the beef stomach cut into pieces was boiled for several hours (4-5, until cooked), salt, black pepper, marjoram, vinegar were added. The dish turned out to be inexpensive, satisfying, and therefore was in great demand.
Richer residents also did not bypass the fleck with their attention. In the 19th century, there was a Hilderbrant fleck restaurant in Königsberg, where signature dish, as you understand, there was a specially prepared tripe. It was not only boiled with various spices, but also stuffed. Fleck was so popular among the people that the Koenigsberg poet Walter Scheffler even wrote a poem praising his taste!
In Kaliningrad, they began to cook fleck according to old Prussian recipes, I haven’t tried it, but they say it’s delicious.
There is another purely Koenigsberg dish - salted crows. Don't worry, I won't offer it, but before the war, it could be found on the menus of local restaurants. It was called "pigeon of the Curonian Spit, served with rice and sauerkraut. But since there were apparently not enough pigeons for everyone, the crows successfully performed their role. The dish was considered a great delicacy.
That's not all famous recipes Königsberg cuisine. Something I got excited, and I want to continue a fascinating topic. Have you heard about Koenigsberg marzipans? This dish, along with clops and fleck, was popular in Prussian times. calling card cities. Now you are in my new story.
I suggest you get acquainted with the chicken recipe.
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Having become popular thanks to Immanuel Kant, bed bugs, if I may say so, have taken on a life of their own, and now we can cook them in two versions, simpler and more complicated - however, both options are not inferior to each other in taste.
Culinary stories of I. Sokolsky
Tanya - serves on Sadovaya
Waiter in the dining room.
Tanya! Tanya!.. For Tanya
I eat there cue balls in sour cream,
Bedbugs, soups and broths,
Pies and pasta…
N. Ya. Agnivtsev. Tanya
Portrait of Immanuel Kant. Artist Johann Gottlieb Becker. 1775. Schiller National Museum, Marbach.
View of Koenigsberg. Copper engraving, painted with watercolors. Based on a drawing by Friedrich Werner, engraved by Johann Georg Ringlin. 1740–1750
St. Petersburg. View downstream of the Neva between the Winter Palace and the Academy of Sciences. Engraving by G. A. Kachalov and E. G. Vinogradov based on a drawing by M. I. Makhaev. 1753.
A. F. Zubov. View of Petersburg. Engraving. 1725.
Restaurant at a hotel in St. Petersburg. Unknown artist. 1840.
Königsberg bugs. (Photo by I. Sokolsky.)
Petersburg Schnelclops. (Photo by I. Sokolsky.)
Klops (German Klopse), or meatballs, have long been traditionally cooked in northern and eastern Germany. But in other European countries, according to legend, they became famous thanks to the great philosopher, the founder of German classical philosophy, Immanuel Kant, in whose house bedbugs were served on the table on Sundays and public holidays. They also say that the name of the dish is consonant with the English "collops" - "slices of meat." But the klops that served Kantu were just large meatballs made from beef with onions and bread, with a side dish of boiled potatoes.
However, the name of the Königsberg Klops, popular in our time, is not associated with Kant, although he still remains the most famous resident of Königsberg in the entire history of the city. Culinary historians state that the term "Königsberger Klopse" was not known until 1900. Created by an unknown Prussian chef, Königsberg Klops were a more refined version. simple meatballs, since anchovies, eggs, spices, lemon zest had to be added to the meat, and they were necessarily accompanied by a rather complex sauce with capers. The side dish, however, was still the same boiled potatoes.
In the Russian Empire, the popularity of klops began in the eighties of the XIX century. It was the peak of the industrial revolution in Russia, and many foreign specialists came to the country at that time, among which German industrialists, engineers, and artisans predominated. They were followed by cooks, confectioners, bakers and owners of restaurants and taverns, where they prepared the usual dishes of German cuisine.
Klopsy, having got together with German restaurateurs in St. Petersburg, became popular not only among Russian Germans, but also among numerous officials and students of the northern capital. This half-starved audience was even more acclaimed by the hearty Schnelklops, made from minced meat or small slices of beef, fried and then stewed in a saucepan with onions and sour cream. Schnelklops, like ordinary bedbugs, were also garnished with boiled potatoes.
The recipe for this simple, quick to prepare and delicious dish the unforgettable Elena Molokhovets describes in her famous book “A Gift to Young Housewives”, and it is him, who quickly became popular among the common people, that Semyon Ivanovich, the hero of A. N. Tolstoy’s novel “The Adventures of Nevzorov, or Ibicus” orders in the St. “Man, another decanter and half a Schnelclops, more horseradish.”
The author prepared Koenigsberg bugs and schnelklops and arranged a comparative tasting for his family. Both bugs and schnelclops disappeared suspiciously quickly from the plates, and the author, who was assured that both dishes were delicious in their own way, decided to acquaint his readers with the recipe for both.
Konigsberg Klopse (Königsberger Klopse)
500 g minced meat(half beef and pork), 2-3 anchovy fillets, 2 onions, 1 egg, 1 yolk, small wheat bun, 1 tbsp. l. flour, 1 tbsp. l. butter; 2 glasses meat broth; ½ cup heavy cream, a handful of capers, 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice, zest of one lemon, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp ground sweet paprika, bay leaf, bunch of parsley, ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg, 4 peas of allspice, ground black pepper on the tip of a knife, salt.
Soak a stale bun in milk. Boil the bay leaf, parsley stalks, half of the capers, allspice and one whole onion in the broth over low heat for 15 minutes. Finely chop the second onion, fry in vegetable oil over low heat until soft. Mix minced meat with fried onions, add squeezed bun, mashed anchovies with a fork, egg, finely chopped parsley, lemon zest, paprika, salt, pepper, mix. With wet hands form meatballs 3 cm in diameter, put on a plate greased with oil. Gently transfer them from the plate to the broth, cook on the lowest heat for 10-15 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon on a plate, strain the broth. Fry the flour in butter for 2 minutes over medium heat; while stirring, pour 1 tbsp. broth, bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes. In the remaining broth, add the pounded yolk, lemon juice, cream, capers, pepper, nutmeg, salt, pour into flour sauce, mix. Put meatballs into the resulting sauce, warm slowly, without bringing to a boil, remove from heat, cover with a lid. Serve with boiled potatoes, pickled beets or pickled cabbage.
(Note: Anchovies can be substituted with pickled Baltic sprat.)
Schnelklops from the book "Gift for young housewives"
Wash 3 pounds (1 pound = 400 grams) of soft beef, cut into long pieces, smash with a wooden pestle as thin as possible, into a lot of pieces, salt, roll in flour; put two chopped onions and ¼ pound of butter in a saucepan, simmer until the onions are soft. When ready, put meat to it, sprinkle with simple crushed allspice, simmer for 10 minutes over high heat, constantly stirring. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of sour cream and, if needed, another ⅛ pound of butter, bring to a boil, stirring no more than 4-5 times. Transfer to a dish, garnish with potatoes boiled in salted water.
Klops (German) ─ a thin piece of meat or bacon; meatball; piece (of something).
And it's nothing but big boiled meatballs with white sauce and capers. Bed bugs are served mainly with boiled potatoes or puree.
They taste (slightly!) like our dumplings with vinegar.
Dedicated to meatball lovers!
Königsberg bugs have their roots in East Prussia. The Klops recipe is relatively young, it is only 200 years old.
Initially, they were called "Klopps from Veal" (from the old German word Kloppen / Klopfen (knock, beat), as they were prepared from beaten finely chopped veal, (The meat grinder was invented only at the beginning of 1850!)) and were served in non-poor families on weekends days.
Since 1888, a new name for these meatballs has been known, namely (Klops à la Königsberg).
Some chuckled when they heard what the Klops give for dinner, i.e. punches, kicks..
AT original recipe Königsberg Klops, there is a fillet of sardels (in the GDR, finely chopped herring was used in the absence of sardels)
I still couldn't figure out why meatballs fish, and therefore I do not use it!
I've been perfecting this recipe over the years, and here's the result!
Ingredients
| bedbugs | |
|---|---|
| ground meat | 500 g |
| egg | 1 PC |
| dry white buns | 1.5-2 pcs |
| bulb | 1 piece (large) |
| capers | 0.5-1 tsp |
| fresh parsley (stalks can be used) | |
| salt | taste |
| black pepper | black pepper |
| for the white sauce | |
| butter | 100 g |
| flour | 3-4 tbsp |
| bouillon | |
| capers (can be replaced with lemon juice or olives) | |
| salt | |
| muscat | taste |
| for the broth | |
| water | 1.5-2 l |
| table vinegar (I have 5%) | 2 tbsp |
| sugar | 1 tsp |
| salt | 1-2 tsp |
| Bay leaf | 1-2 pcs |
| black pepper | 2-3 peas |
