SLOVAKIA – Parené Buchty

Posted on by staplebread

DSC_8889Well this was certainly interesting. I have never eaten anything quite like this before. Sweet dumplings! I associate these kind of steamed dumplings with Chinese cuisine and definitely don’t think of them as having chocolate added.

There was an added challenge to making these dumplings. I didn’t have a steamer basket and after checking in a few stores without luck and not wanting to spend a lot of money, I turned to the internet for alternative steaming methods. I ended up using a ceramic bowl inside of a large pot. I put in a small amount of water (a few centimetres in height) and added the lid.

Rating:

  • Faithfulness to recipe: Yes
  • Met expectations? Yes. 
  • Would cook again? Probably not. They were quite fiddly and there are sweeter, unhealthier things to eat that are easier and more satisfying – like nutella crepes.
  • The taste test rated on a score of 5: 3.5. A little chewy and they really need quite a good dosing of chocolate and oil or butter. I saved a few and freezed them, as suggested. There were too many for us to eat in one sitting.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup/ 250ml milk
  • 3 cups/280 grams flour
  • 1 sachet instant yeast (7 grams)
  • 2 Tbs sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • For the filling: jam, Nutella, or mini chocolate chips, or 2/3 cup poppyseeds ground together with 1/3 cup sugar

Method

There are also some more pictures here:

  • Heat the milk until it is almost boiling (“scald” it; this makes the yeast work better). Set it aside to cool. Meanwhile, mix together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. When the milk has cooled to lukewarm, pour it into the dry ingredients and mix. Add the egg and mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands; the dough will be very soft, but it should come together. If it’s too wet to work with, add a little flour.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place about an hour, or until doubled.
  • In the meantime, prepare your steaming equipment. We have a flat-bottomed steaming insert for our big pasta pot, but any type of steamer works, including the kind that open like a flower. Brush some oil over the steamer, as the buchty can stick during cooking, and put a few inches of water in the bottom of a pot big enough to hold the steamer. I usually turn the water on while I’m making the buchty so they can cook straight away.
  • When the dough has doubled in bulk, turn it out onto a (very) well-floured surface and roll out to about a quarter-inch (0.5 cm) thickness. Cut into squares that are about 4 inches (10 cm) square, 3 inches (8 cm) if you want smaller buchty. Larger buchty are more authentic but smaller ones may be more practical if you’re serving them as a dessert. Dollop about a teaspoon of filling into the center of a square, then gather up the edges and pinch to seal at the top, making a rounded sort of package. Continue adding filling and making the buchty until you’ve used all the squares.
  • Now you’re ready to steam! Carefully place several buchty into the steamer; don’t crowd them, they’ll expand somewhat while cooking and can stick together. If you haven’t already, turn on the heat and once the water is boiling, put the steamer into the pot, cover and cook the buchty for 8-10 minutes and have developed a firm, slightly translucent skin. Using tongs or a couple of forks, gently lift the buchty out of the steamer and place them on plates to serve. You should cook all the buchty now, but you can freeze any that you don’t want to eat right away, and just steam them again (or even microwave them) to heat them through.

To serve

  • Suggestions include: topping buchty with a spoonful of cocoa powder, a heaping spoonful of granulated sugar, and then pours oil over the top. As you eat, you swirl the toppings together, delicious!

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