Aaah, kreplach...


Beautiful kreplach...


There are two kreplach “occasions” coming up—the meal before Yom Kippur and the Hoshana Rabbah meal. What exactly are kreplach? Boiled or fried pockets of dough stuffed with either meat or chicken, usually served in chicken soup. The meat symbolizes severity; the dough is an allusion to kindness. In preparation for the Day of Judgment, we “cover” the severity with kindness. To understand more about kreplach, what they represent and when else we eat them, check out this great explanation. If you’ve never tried them—you’re certainly missing out, and this would be a good time to start.


Last year, I shared a recipe using wonton wrappers for the dough, but this time I'm giving you step-by-step instructions to make the dough yourself. I also boiled them last time, and here we'll be frying them. To check out the recipe, see my Golden Chicken Soup with Traditional Kreplach recipe.

These step-by-step pictures should help with the directions below:






Dough Ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt

Filling Ingredients:

  • 3/4 lb. raw ground chicken
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • salt
  • 1 tbsp. oil

Also:

  • Vegetable oil for frying

For the Dough:

  1. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the oil and water and mix roughly with a wooden spoon. Switch to your hands and bring the dough together into a ball.
  2. Knead the dough for a few minutes, then cover it with a kitchen towel and set it aside to rest for 30-60 minutes.

For the Filling:

  1. Fry the diced onion in the oil until golden. Salt to taste.
  2. Let the fried onion cool and then add it to the ground chicken.

To Assemble:

  1. Divide the dough into four pieces. Roll out the first piece and cut into squares. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square, then fold over and seal edges to form a triangle. Press firmly along the edges with your fingers. Repeat until all the dough has been used. (Keep all the dough covered while not using, so it doesn't dry out.)
  2. Place the sealed kreplach aside on a piece of parchment paper, covered by a kitchen towel, until ready to fry.
  3. Heat oil to medium-high in a frying pan. Fry the kreplach on each side, until golden, crisp and chicken mixture is cooked through—approximately 3-4 minutes on the first side, then 2 minutes on the second side.
  4. Serve in chicken soup, or on the side.

Yields: 30 kreplach