EST. 2011 BY LIZ RUEVEN
Soup Dumplings (Kreplach) with Minced Brisket
Photo: Liz Rueven

Soup Dumplings (Kreplach) with Minced Brisket

We prepared homemade kreplach in honor of Purim this week!

Kreplach are the darling stuffed dumplings of Ashkenazic Jewish cuisine that most of us don’t prepare anymore. I remember slurping them from my Nanny’s glistening chicken soup almost 40 years ago.

Almost every culture serves up dumplings of some sort; call them wontons, ravioli, varenyky, pierogi, pelmini or khinkali. I suspect that they all conjure up similar memories of patient grandmothers lovingly folding dough and feeding hungry grandkids.

Fantasy? You tell me.

Kreplach, Kosher Like Me, soup dumplings
photo: Liz Rueven

I’ve made kreplach only once before, using wonton wrappers, which is a useful shortcut.

But I had never made them from scratch. So when Shannon Sarna, editor of The Nosher suggested that Ronnie Fein and I meet to make our own dough and fold a load of kreplach just before Purim, I was glad to have these two experts by my side.

I was surprised that making Ronnie’s dough was so easy. Unlike other doughs, it only needs to rest (unrefrigerated) for about an hour before you’re ready to roll. And with only four ingredients, it’s a cinch to assemble. We used cooked brisket that I had set aside (a must with my crew) and frozen after a family celebration last week.

I haven’t tasted anything that was as redolent of my Nanny’s kitchen since I last ate with her in 1978. I relished the power of this food memory as the first bite of our kreplach almost brought me to tears.

kreplach soup dumplings Kosher Like Me
Photo: Liz Rueven

Why do we serve kreplach for Purim?

It’s another triangular food, just like hamantaschen (grab our recipes here). It’s also a way to conceal the identity of the filling, just as Queen Esther concealed her true identity.

Want to make kreplach with wonton wrappers? Click here.

Want to know how to make classic, old school chicken soup? Click here.

What other triangular foods do you eat during Purim? We’d love to know.

I’ve caught wind of spanakopita baking from one of my friends…..

Have a playful and rowdy holiday with plenty of treats this Saturday eve- Sunday, eve of March 11- March 12, 2017.

 

 

10 Comments

    • I was a little surprised by how powerful my emotions were. The senses really can overwhelm sometimes. Thanks for cooking in my kitchen and sharing your recipe with us. xo

  1. I make these with the wontons (my mom made her own dough)and after I stuff them I put them on greased cookie sheets & freeze them…then put them in freezer containers. I take them out as need them & fry them. I use brisket, shoulder etc….with plenty of carmelized onions! My family loves these so I make about 150 at a time…it’s worth it!!

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