Königsberger Klopse

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow pot or deep sauté pan with lid
• •Slotted spoon
• •Fine sieve
• •Small saucepan for the sauce
• •Whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the roll

   Tear the stale roll into pieces and soak it in the milk for 10 minutes, then squeeze it firmly in your hands. The bread should be damp, not dripping; too much milk loosens the mixture and the Klopse, meatballs, start shedding into the broth.

2. 2

   Soften the onion

   Cook the diced onion in 1 tablespoon butter over low heat until soft and glassy, then let it cool. Raw onion stays sharp inside a gently poached meatball, and hot onion warms the meat mixture before it binds, which makes the texture tight.

3. 3

   Mix the Klopse

   Mix the meat, squeezed roll, cooled onion, egg, mashed anchovy, parsley, salt, and black pepper with your hands just until it holds together. Stop when it binds. Work it like dough and you get a rubber ball, not a tender Klops.

   Mash the anchovy into a paste before it goes in. A whole piece announces itself; a paste disappears into the seasoning and gives the old East Prussian depth.
4. 4

   Shape and test

   Shape 12 meatballs with wet hands, about the size of a small egg. Poach one small test piece first in the broth; if it falls apart, mix a spoonful of fine breadcrumbs into the rest, because the pot tells you more than the recipe card.

5. 5

   Poach gently

   Bring the broth, halved onion, bay leaf, and allspice to a simmer, then lower the heat until the surface only trembles. Slide in the meatballs and poach 12 to 15 minutes, turning once. Do not boil. A hard boil breaks the meatballs and clouds the broth you need for the sauce.

6. 6

   Start the sauce

   Lift the meatballs out with a slotted spoon and keep them covered. Strain the broth, because Weggeworfen wird nichts, and the poaching liquor is the backbone of the sauce. Melt 40g butter, stir in the flour, and cook it gently for 2 minutes without browning; this sauce must stay pale.

7. 7

   Finish with capers

   Whisk in 200ml strained broth little by little, then add the cream and simmer until the sauce coats a spoon. Take it off the hard boil before stirring in the capers, caper brine, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and white pepper. The bright things go in last, or the lemon dulls and the cream can split.

8. 8

   Warm and serve

   Return the Klopse to the sauce and warm them gently for 3 to 4 minutes, without boiling. Serve with boiled potatoes and enough sauce to spoon over them. The potatoes are not decoration; they catch the caper sauce, which is why they're there.

Chef Tips

• •Use veal if you can get it. A veal and lean beef mix is a good working version; all beef makes a firmer Klops, so mix it less and poach it even more gently.
• •Nicht aus dem Glas: don't build this on jarred white sauce. The sauce is only butter, flour, clean broth, cream, capers, and lemon, and it tastes of the broth because you made it from the poaching pot.
• •Keep the broth below a boil. This is the difference between a pale, neat Klops and a pot full of meat crumbs. Runter mit der Temperatur.
• •Capers and lemon are not garnish here. They are the point of the dish, the sharp larder taste that keeps the cream sauce from going dull.
• •Serve with boiled potatoes, not noodles. The floury potato takes the sauce properly, and a waxy potato stays cleaner if you want the plate to look tidy.

Advance Preparation

• •Shape the meatballs up to 12 hours ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator. Poach them cold from the fridge, giving them an extra minute if needed.
• •The broth can be made a day ahead from veal or beef bones and chilled. Lift off the set fat before using so the sauce stays clean and pale.
• •Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in the sauce without boiling, because a hard boil tightens the meat and can split the cream.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)