Recipe: Koldunai
Let’s talk about Lithuanian grandma food.
When I was a kid, one of the highlights of Christmas Eve was going to my Lithuanian aunt’s house in Cicero (holla!) and stuffing myself on koldunai. Koldunai are the Lithuanian version of pierogi — little ravioli-like dumplings. I’ve only ever had the ones my grandma or aunt made, which were stuffed with ground beef, onions, and lots and lots of marjoram (the secret Lithuanian flavor) (holla!). My mom used to occasionally make her own decidedly non-Lithuanian version of koldunai, which substituted won ton skins for homemade dough because, well, it’s a hell of a lot easier to use won ton skins than to make dough and, like, roll it out and shit.
Sometimes, usually in the fall when it’s starting to get a little crisp outside, I get a little nostalgic for my childhood favorite Lithuanian dish. (Honestly, cepelinai kind of scared me.) So I made my own version, using cheater won ton skins and vegetarian meat substitute. I think it’s at least somewhat legit, but I’ve been a vegetarian for a billion years and, as a result, haven’t had actual koldunai since dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Ingredients
- 1/2 of a large white or yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon butter (there will be more butter later so go easy here)
- 1 12-ounce package Morningstar Farms grillers recipe crumbles
- 1 tablespoon plus a pinch dried marjoram (make sure it’s relatively fresh because I’ve found that marjoram loses its potency/flavor when it’s old)
- salt to taste
- one egg
- one 14-ounce package won ton skins (you probably won’t need the whole thing)
- a little water
Directions
In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, stir to coat with butter, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the recipe crumbles and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. You just want the crumbles to be thawed and a little warm. Transfer to a bowl. Add marjoram and salt and mix well (I always taste here to make sure I don’t need to add anything.) Add the egg and mix well.
Put a large pot of water on to boil (if all goes well, this will be boiling when you need it). Place individual won ton skins on a clean work surface (I put out 8 or 10 at a time). Drop a bit of faux meat mixture (I use a regular, non-measuring teaspoon to do this) into the center of each won ton skin. After you’ve put a dollop of fake meat on each skin, stick your finger in some water (I put a tiny bowl of water on the counter) and use your finger to wet two edges of the won ton skin. Pick up the won ton skin with the faux meat in the middle and fold into a triangle, sticking the two wet edges to the two dry edges. (I suspect I’m making this sound way more complicated than it is but want to be clear. Sorry if it’s more annoying than usual!) Squeeze the edges together as hard as you can. Place your completed koldunai triangle on a clean plate. Repeat this mind-numbing process until you’ve used all the faux meat mixture (you’ll probably run out of this before you run out of won ton skins). It’s okay to stack them on top of each other — they won’t stick to each other (yet).
After you’ve assembled the koldunai, place them in the water that is probably boiling by now (if you’re like me, it’s been boiling for a while). Boil the koldunai, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 6 minutes (if you notice them exploding before 5 minutes, it’s okay to take them out then). Pour koldunai and water into a strainer and shake to remove as much excess water as possible.
Serve koldunai hot, with fat (melted butter) and more fat (sour cream), salt (if you’re me), and/or Sriracha (if you’re Ben).
*Note: If you leave any koldunai in the strainer while you’re eating, like we did tonight, when you go for seconds, you’ll find them all stuck together. They still taste fine, of course, but it’s kind of a bummer to find all these little dumplings you stuffed and folded with love and your bare hands all stuck together like that. If you want to avoid this, I’d recommend placing the koldunai on a gigantic cookie sheet or serving plate of some sort immediately after straining. This will have the drawback of making them get cold very fast, but you can always microwave them.
Lithuanian grandma food isn’t always much to look at, but it is pretty tasty.
Enjoy!
