Dutch · snack

Bitterballen

Bitterballen reads richness 7.6, umami 7.4 and salinity 4.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Dutch snack, about 11 hr 34 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.9 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 1.1 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.5 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.4 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 8.1 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 2.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 7.6 · Umami 7.4 · Salinity 4.5 · Warm Spice 2.3 · Herbaceous 2.1 · Nutty 1.6 · Sourness 1.5 · Bitterness 1.3 · Sweetness 1.1 · Heat 0.8 · Earthy 0.8 · Floral 0.7

What's in it (14)

• beef shin — 600 g
• beef stock — 1500 g
• butter — 90 g
• all-purpose flour — 90 g
• flat-leaf parsley — 20 g
• coarse-grained mustard — 10 g
• freshly grated nutmeg — 1 g
• salt — 10 g
• ground white pepper — 3 g
• all-purpose flour — 100 g
• eggs — 300 g
• bread crumbs — 200 g
• oil — 1380 g
• coarse-grained mustard — 100 g

Time & effort: about 11 hr 34 min (3 hr 34 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 127.4 kcal, 3.5 g protein, 8.9 g fat, 8.7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

1. Simmer the beef shin in the stock for 2 hours 30 minutes, until it shreds under a fork. Lift it out, shred it finely with two forks, and keep 750 ml of the cooking stock.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy pan over medium heat, stir in the 90 g of flour, and cook this roux for 3 minutes, stirring, until it smells of biscuits.
3. Add the reserved hot stock a ladleful at a time, whisking each one completely smooth. Simmer 10 minutes, until the ragout is far thicker than any sauce — it should hold the trail of the whisk and pull away from the sides of the pan.
4. Stir in the shredded beef, parsley, the 2 teaspoons of mustard, nutmeg, salt and white pepper.
5. Spread the ragout in a shallow dish, press cling film onto the surface and refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight. This is the step people skip and it is the one that decides everything: a bitterbal is a croquette whose filling is set solid cold and molten hot, and a ragout that is merely cool will burst in the fryer.
6. Roll the cold ragout into 24 balls of about 30 g each, using wet hands.
7. Set out the coating flour, the beaten eggs and the breadcrumbs. Roll each ball in flour, then egg, then crumbs — then egg and crumbs a second time. The double crumb is not optional either; it is the shell that contains the melted inside.
8. Chill the coated balls 30 minutes, then heat the oil to 180°C and fry them in batches of six for 3 minutes, until deep mahogany brown. Any more than six at once drops the oil temperature and they soak.
9. Drain briefly and serve immediately with a bowl of coarse mustard for dipping. They are ferociously hot inside for the first few minutes, which is a known hazard of the Dutch café table.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Scotch Egg — British
• Awarma (Preserved Lamb Confit) — Lebanese
• Cajun Pinto Beans — Cajun/Creole
• Pilav (Turkish Rice Pilaf) — Turkish
• Scrapple (Pannhaas) — American · Pennsylvania Dutch

Keep reading: what richness, umami, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.