Deruny and Draniki, with Machanka

Name: Deruny and Draniki, with Machanka
Total time: 7 min
Cuisine: Ukraine and Belarus
Ingredients: 500 g raw potato, grated, its pressed-off starch reserved and folded back in per rung three; 2 egg, a little, to bind; half a glass (about 60 g) flour, a little, to bind; a few thin slices, to taste raw meat, optional, sandwiched between two pancakes before frying, for the Belarusian variant; 1 kg (pork ribs), fried until browned pork trimmings; as available smoked or salted meat; about 500 g, roughly half the meat's weight lard; 500 g, fried until browned sausage; as available bone; as available flour, to thicken; 1, finely chopped onion; to taste mushroom; for garnish dill

Ukraine and Belarus

Draniki, grated potato pancakes fried until deep golden, served with a thick pork machanka sauce for dipping: a stack of three irregular, deep golden brown potato pancakes with visibly crisp, lacy edges, piled slightly askew on a plate.

Illustration

Time: 7 minutes

Researched: Researched from 89 sources in the brief

Both countries grate raw potato, press and reserve its starch per rung three, and fry it into a pancake, bound with a little egg and flour. Ukrainian deruny are typically plain, served with soured cream. Belarusian draniki are the same idea taken further: sometimes made with a raw meat layer sandwiched between two grated-potato pancakes before frying, and always eaten with machanka, a thick pork sauce, from makats, to dip, built from pork trimmings, smoked or salted meat, lard, sausage and bone, thickened with flour and seasoned with onion, mushroom and dill, the draniki torn and dipped directly into the pot rather than served alongside it as a separate course.

As tradition built it

Fried 2 to 3 minutes a side, then a further 4 minutes covered.

Ingredients

For the pancakes

500 g raw potato, grated, its pressed-off starch reserved and folded back in per rung three
2 egg, a little, to bind
half a glass (about 60 g) flour, a little, to bind
a few thin slices, to taste raw meat, optional, sandwiched between two pancakes before frying, for the Belarusian variant

For the machanka

1 kg (pork ribs), fried until browned pork trimmings
as available smoked or salted meat
about 500 g, roughly half the meat's weight lard
500 g, fried until browned sausage
as available bone
as available flour, to thicken
1, finely chopped onion
to taste mushroom
for garnish dill

Method

Grate the raw potato, press and reserve its starch per rung three, and fold the starch back into the batter with a little egg and flour.
Fry into pancakes. Ukrainian deruny are typically plain, served with soured cream.
For Belarusian draniki, sandwich a raw meat layer between two grated-potato pancakes before frying.
Build the machanka from pork trimmings, smoked or salted meat, lard, sausage and bone, thickened with flour and seasoned with onion, mushroom and dill.
Tear the draniki and dip directly into the pot of machanka, rather than serving it alongside as a separate course.

What a modern chef changes

Fried in clarified salo, a confit machanka, judged by fat

Rung 1

Method

Fry the draniki in clarified salo fat rather than plain oil, per the technique already established for this chapter's other dishes, for a rounder, more savoury base flavour.
Build the machanka as a confit: render the pork trimmings and smoked meat slowly under sous vide before finishing the sauce on the stove, giving a more even, less stringy texture than the traditional long stovetop simmer.
Serve the draniki as a single large, thin sheet rather than individual pancakes, cut into wedges at the table for dipping.
Finish the machanka with a last spoonful of smetana stirred through off the heat rather than served separately, judged by fat and culture per rung one.

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