RECIPE / ONE REALIZATION

Traditional Rheinischer Sauerbraten

The following recipe gives instructions on how to prepare a traditional sauerbraten dish from North Rhine-Westphalia. The gravy is thickened with gingerbreads, and the recipe also gives instructions on how to prepare potato dumplings to serve with the roast.

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Photo: shutterstock

Servings: 4
Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 2 hr 10 min
Total: 2 hr 30 min

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

1 kg beef round
salt and pepper, to taste
2 onions
140 g kräuterprinten (gingerbread)
2 tbsp sugar beet syrup
6 tbsp sultanas
3 tbsp fat, for frying
30 g butter, melted
750 ml wine, red, strong
500 ml vinegar (raspberry vinegar)
2 onions, roughly minced
1 carrot, coarsely crushed
10 juniper berries
5 allspice kernels
5 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp sugar
POTATO DUMPLINGS
600 g floury potatoes
2 egg yolk
50 g potato flour
nutmeg, freshly grated, from the tip of the knife
1 tbsp salt

METHOD

01
Add all the ingredients for the marinade (wine, vinegar, carrot, onions, juniper berries, allspice, cloves, bay leaves, and sugar) to a large pot. First, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, and simmer for five minutes. Remove from the heat and wait until the marinade cools completely. Immerse the meat in the marinade. Cover the pot with a lid, then refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
02
Pat dry the meat and strain the marinade. Sauté the meat in fat, then add two chopped onions, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Finely mince the gingerbread cookies, and arrange them together with three tablespoons of sultanas around the meat. Salt and pepper to taste, and add the sugar beet syrup. Shortly sauté. Deglaze the pot with half of the marinade. Cover the pot and simmer for two hours until the meat is tender. Take note that if you marinate the meat for three weeks, the meat will be cooked sooner.
03
Remove the meat from the pot, but keep warm. Meanwhile, purée the sauce. If necessary to thicken, whisk in a mixture of some flour and cold water. Next, add the remaining sultanas, then simmer for another 15 minutes. The resulting sauce should be very dark. If not, add a tablespoon or two of caramel.
04
Cook peeled potatoes in salted water. Force the potatoes through a potato ricer, then combine the potatoes with potato flour, salt, eggs, and nutmeg until well blended. Shape the dumplings with your hands, and place each on a lightly floured surface. Once you've made all the dumplings, boil them in salted water. They are cooked once they come to the surface of the water.

OTHER REALIZATIONS

3 other variations

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Westphalian Sauerbraten

4 hr 30 min

The following is the recipe for horsemeat sauerbraten, typical of the North Rhine-Westphalia region. The recipe also includes instructions on how to make rotkhol (red cabbage with apples) and schupfnudels , a kind of thick noodles typical of Baden and Swabia.

Fränkischer Sauerbraten

3 hr

This recipe is courtesy of the Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and is accessed via bayern.by . The beef is marinated in a liquid made with root vegetables, a host of spices, and water for five days. It is then pat dried, seared shortly in lard, and cooked in the marinade. Once the meat is done, the marinade is used to make a sweet and sour gray that goes with it. Finally, the meat and the gravy should be served with dumplings and braised red cabbage.

Bad Sauerbraten

3 hr 30 min

Unlike other regional sauerbraten recipes, the sauerbraten from Bad region does not have any sweeteners, giving the dish a more acidic taste. The recipe also gives instructions on how to prepare bread dumplings and spätzle to serve with the roast.

USEFUL NOTES

What to pay attention to

METHOD

The only rule when it comes to marinating the meat is that it should be done in either a plastic, glass or porcelain container. Avoid metal containers which could corrode when in contact with an acidic marinade. Once out of the marinade, make sure the meat is dried very well so it can sear properly. You can do the braising on the stove or in the oven, the length of which depends on how long the meat was marinated.

MEAT

Horsemeat, although traditional, is nowadays largely replaced with beef, but lamb, mutton, venison, rabbit, pork can also be used. Go for tougher cuts of meat that benefit from long braising such as rump roast, but also bottom round and top round, and even chuck. However, if you’d like to make it traditionally, you can purchase horsemeat at some butcher shops, or from specialized online retailers.

SERVING

Slices of meat are traditionally served with either potato dumplings, potato pancakes, red cabbage (rotkhol), or schupfnudeln, while the sauce is usually ladled over the meat.