Czech Vepřenky Pork Patties
Join me for a taste of Czech-style pork patties, called vepřenky. The recipe is straightforward to prepare, and the fried cakes have an absolutely delicious flavor.
Servings 12 patties
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 g) ground pork fat content around 20 %
- 1 tsp sweet ground paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 and ½ cup white bread such as the French baguette
- ¼ cup 60 ml cold water
- vegetable oil for frying
For topping:
- 2 onions peeled, cut into thin circles
- 4 Tbsp yellow mustard
Instructions
- Cube the white bread, place the cubes in a bowl and cover with water. Let the bread soak in the water for about 10 minutes. Then remove the bread and squeeze out the excess water.
- Put the ground pork in a bowl, add salt, sweet ground paprika, and cold water. Mix everything with your hands, knead well between your fingers until you get a smooth meat mass.
- Add the squeezed bread and stir once more to combine. Do not knead the meat for too long; the mixture should be cold, it cannot be warm.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium heat. Pour a little oil into the pan.
- With wet hands, shape the meat mixture into patties 3-4 inches in size, about ⅓ inch thick.
- Fry in heated oil on each side for about 3 minutes.
Notes
- Makes 10-12 pork patties.
- SERVING: Before serving, brush one side of each pork patty with yellow mustard. Arrange on a plate with the side dish, sprinkle the patties with onions cut into thin rings. Pork patties are served warm, as a side dish are suitable boiled or mashed potatoes, poured with melted butter.
- Vepřenky patties are a perfect on-the-go meal. Czechs put them smeared with mustard, garnished with onion rings, between two slices of rye bread and have a tasty snack when they go on a family trip.
- Use a non-stick frying pan and flip the patties carefully; sometimes, they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan.
- If you are not sure that the ground pork is sufficiently seasoned, fry a small sample of the meat in a pan. Taste to your liking if necessary.