Žemaičių blynai
Photo: Sirex at Lithuanian Wikibooks · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Žemaičių blynai come from Samogitia (Žemaitija), the northern Lithuanian region. Where bulvių blynai are crisp grated-potato pancakes, žemaičių blynai are mashed-potato dumplings filled with meat or curd cheese and fried in a pan. Senoji Trobelė and Etno Dvaras both run them on the heritage menus. A Hill of Crosses (Šiauliai) day-trip pairs well with Samogitian-cuisine cafes for this dish.

Common allergens: Eggs, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 15 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1 kg starchy potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 300 g minced pork
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp black pepper
  • Sunflower oil for frying
  • Sour cream and bacon cracklings to serve

Method

  1. Boil potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes until tender. Drain well and mash to a smooth purée.
  2. Cool the mashed potato. Mix in eggs, flour, salt and pepper to form a sticky dough.
  3. Brown the minced pork with chopped onion, salt and pepper in a pan. Set aside.
  4. Take a portion of potato dough; flatten in your hand. Place a spoon of pork filling in the centre; fold the dough around to form a sealed oval.
  5. Heat 5 mm of oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Fry blynai for 4 to 5 minutes per side until golden.
  6. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve hot with sour cream and bacon cracklings.

Tip from the editors. Cool the mashed potato before mixing in eggs; warm potato will set the egg before you can shape the blynai.

Where to eat žemaičių blynai

Žemaičių blynai in Vilnius

Senoji Trobelė ★ 4.2

€€ LithuanianNaujamiestis

Senoji Trobelė on Naugarduko is a family-run Lithuanian room with painted ceilings and a 75-percent Žalgiris mead balsam fermented for two years.

OrderCepelinai with curd cheese; finish with a glass of Žalgiris mead balsam.

TipTwelve minutes uphill from Vokiečių. Order the daily-baked linseed leaven bread to start.

Directions

Etno Dvaras (Aušros Vartų) ★ 4.0

€€ LithuanianSenamiestis

Etno Dvaras on Aušros Vartų cooks dishes certified by the Lithuanian Culinary Heritage Fund in a cavernous cellar with street-level windows on the strip.

OrderCepelinai with bacon-mushroom sauce; pair with a bowl of šaltibarščiai cold beet soup.

TipHeritage Fund certification means every dish must be 100 years old by recipe. Touristy but real.

Directions

Forto Dvaras (Pilies) ★ 3.7

€€ LithuanianSenamiestisUntil Daily 24:00

Forto Dvaras on Pilies stays open to midnight every night, the Old Town's reliable cepelinai-after-the-bars option with Lithuanian draught until last orders.

TryCepelinai with bacon-mushroom sauce

TipLast food order around 23:30. A solid post-Alchemikas Lithuanian-classics meal on Pilies.

Directions

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