Miriam Szokovski | Chabad.org
Yapchik is a slow-cooked potato kugel with a layer of meat inside, often served for Shabbat lunch.
The meat falls apart as it cooks, the kugel develops a rich brown color and taste from cooking overnight, and the end result is more of a scoopable stew than a sliceable kugel.
Ingredients:
5 lbs Russet potatoes
1 onion
6 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup water
2 Tbsp kosher salt (use 1 Tbsp if using table salt)
1 lb flanken or second-cut brisket, cubed
Directions:
Peel the potatoes and place in a bowl of cold water to prevent discoloration. Cut the meat into cubes and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 450 F (230 C).
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, oil, water and salt.
To grate the potatoes and onions, you’ll need either a hand grater or food processor.
For a box grater, use the small knobbly side with the tiny, sharp protruding holes that look like little teeth. This side will create a finer texture that’s ideal for kugel, allowing more starch to be released.
For the food processor, if you have a “kugel blade” (a special disc with multiple tiny holes that creates a fine texture perfect for kugel), use this for both potatoes and onion. If you don’t have a kugel blade, process half the potatoes and onion with the standard S-blade.
Process the other half with the shredding disc and then pulse 2 to 3 times with the S-blade. Combine both textures for the ideal kugel consistency.
Immediately add the potatoes to the egg and oil mixture and mix until well combined.
Pour the potato kugel batter into a deep 9×13 pan. Add the meat cubes evenly spaced, and press them down so that the kugel mixture covers them completely.
Bake the kugel uncovered at 450 F (230 C) for 75 minutes. Remove from the oven. Pour a cup of water over the kugel and cover tightly with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 200 F (95 C) and cook overnight until your Shabbat meal.
To serve: This is more of a scoopable texture than a sliceable kugel, so serves best scooped into individual bowls.
Serves: 10-12
Miriam Szokovski is a writer, editor and member of the Chabad.org editorial team. She also shares her cooking and baking on Chabad.org/food.
