TAMARA’S BITTERBALLEN
TAMARA’S BITTERBALLEN
The meat:
Make your stewing beef. I used:
700 gram soft shin,
2 bayleaves,
Worcester
braai mix spices,
cornflour,
3 cloves of garlic,
white pepper,
salt,
one diced onion,
50 gram butter and
1,5 liter water.
If you have your own recipe for making stewing beef, go ahead. You will need the shredded beef and stock for this recipe so it doesn’t really matter how you make it as long as it’s tasty.
I use Worcester spice mix because it gives the broth a really nice flavour. I sprinkle it over my beef soft shin and then dip my shin into cornflour till it’s fully covered. I then bake my beef in 50 gram of melted butter till golden on both sides. Add 1 diced onion and add water until beef is covered. Add crushed garlic, bayleaves, salt, peper to taste and let it simmer for 1,5 hours or until beef is soft.
Take beef out and pull it apart (shred), keep beef stock separate (sift your stock).
Roux:
Melt 50 grams butter on stove, add 60 grams flour and let it cook for 2 minutes while stirring.
Add 400ml of your beef stock/broth (I had 800ml so I used double the butter and double the flour). Add the braised beef and stir. You should have a thick sauce now. Add Pinches of salt, pepper and nutmeg to your taste. Poor mixture into a shallow dish and let it cool a bit before popping it into the fridge for at least 3 hours. (I made this in the evening so it could stand overnight in the fridge)
Making the balls:
Use 3 separate bowls:
Bowl 1: a cup of bread crumbs (fine one like bokomo)
Bowl 2: 3 large beaten eggs
Bowl 3: a cup of bread crumbs (coarser one like kellogs)
Time to get messy!
With a spoon you scoop out a bit of the cold roux and you shape it with your hands into a ball (3cm, golf ball size), roll it into bowl 1 (fine bread crumbs). Then dip it into bowl 2 with the beaten egg and make sure the whole ball is covered, then dip it in bowl 3 with the coarser bread crumbs and place the balls in a Tupperware box or on a plastic covered empty egg carton (the balls will fit perfectly in the holes).
My tip: wash your hands after each ball as they become very sticky during this egg dipping process.
Make as many balls as you can and freeze them for other days or deep fry them for lunch or dinner.
Deep fry:
Heat the sunflower oil in a deep fryer or normal pan to 180 C. Fry the bitterballen in batches until golden. Remove from fryer and drain on paper toweling. Serve them hot with Dijon mustard on the side. Or on a soft bun.
PHOTO: Tamara La Marca
