Pelmeni

Pelmeni

Pelmeni served with smetana (sour cream)
Type	Dumpling
Place of origin	Russia
Region or state	Perm, Udmurtia
Main ingredients	Dough: flour, water, sometimes eggs Filling: minced meat (pork, lamb, beef, or any other kind of meat), fish, or mushrooms

Pelmeni (Russian pronunciation: [pʲɪlʲˈmʲenʲɪ]; Russian: пельме́ни—plural, пельмень pelʼmenʼ—singular) are dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough.

The dough is made from flour and water, sometimes adding a small portion of eggs.

The filling can be minced meat (pork, lamb, beef, or any other kind of meat), or fish. The mixing together of different kinds of meat is also popular. The traditional Udmurt recipe requires a mixture of 45% beef, 35% mutton, and 20% pork. Various spices, such as black pepper and diced onions as well as garlic, are mixed into the filling.

The word pelmeni is derived from pel'n'an' (пельнянь)—literally "ear bread" in the native Finno-Ugric Komi and Udmurt languages. It is unclear when pelmeni entered the cuisines of the indigenous Siberian people and when they first appeared in Russian cuisine. One theory suggests pelmeni, or stuffed boiled dumplings in general, originated in Siberia, possibly a simplified adaptation of the Chinese Wonton (in some dialect is called Bāomiàn "包面"). Another theory suggests that pelmeni were carried by the Mongols to Siberia and the Urals, from where they gradually spread as far as Eastern Europe. Pelmeni are particularly good means of quickly preserving meat during long Siberian winter, especially eliminating the need to feed livestock during the long winter months.

Pelmeni belong to the family of dumplings, and are related to Ukrainian varenyky and Polish pierogi. In the United States and Canada, the term pierogi or perogies is often used to describe all kinds of Eastern European dumplings, regardless of the shape, size, or filling. Pelmeni are also similar to Mongolian bansh, Chinese jiaozi (Cantonese gaau) or Chinese húndùn (Cantonese wonton). They are cousins to the Turkish and Kazakh manti, the Nepalese and Tibetan momo, the Uzbek chuchvara, the Korean mandu, and the Japanese gyoza and Italian ravioli.