Frikandellen

In several days time, on January 29th, Holland will be the scene for another highly culinary event: the annual Frikandellen Eating competition. Held for the seventh year and hosted by the Men's Choir of Heukelum, a small town in the province of Gelderland, twenty contestants will compete for the challenge trophy and, oh joy, the Golden Frikandel.

Gelderland is no stranger to interesting sausages: it is supposedly the birthplace of Gelderse kookworst and rookworst. In Dutch, worst means sausage which may, on the whole, not be totally coincidental, as the meat used for many of these sausages is not exactly the best. The Gelderse version is made of lean pork, seasoned with a particular set of spices and slightly smoked over oak and beech, then eaten either cold (kookworst) as luncheon meat or boiled (rookworst) with split pea soup or boerenkool, that lovely wintery dish of mashed potatoes with kale.

Frankwin's "broodje frikandel"
So what is a frikandel? It's a skinless deep-fried sausage, made of chicken, pork and beef. It can be served by itself or with mayo, in a roll (broodje frikandel) or cut open and doused in mayo, (curry) ketchup and minced onion. This culinary concoction is called a "frikandel speciaal". This savory sausage is Holland's number one snack, only every so often bumped off its champion position by number two, the kroket, the big brother of the bitterballen. Fried snacks such as these are traditionally sold in neighborhood "snack bars" or "automatieken", like the Febo.

Kroketten, bitterballen and frikandellen are also the top three fried snacks most missed by Dutch expatriates. The first two are fairly easy to make, but I had never tried my hand at making frikandellen until this weekend. It's a bit of a hassle but you'll be surprised at how close to the real thing this recipe is. So get your mayo, ketchup and onions ready, because it's time for a frikandel!

Frikandellen
1 pound of beef
1 pound of pork
8 oz of chicken
3 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of black peper
1 teaspoon of ground allspice
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
3 teaspoons of onion powder
3/4 cup of whipping cream

Grind the meat very, very fine and blend together with the spices and the cream. Watch out for the motor if you do this on your food processor, and do small batches to prevent overheating the appliance.

Many thanks to Frankwin for
the recipe and all the help!
Bring a large pan with water to a boil. If you have a sausage grinder or stuffer, just hang the end of the tube over the pan of boiling water. If you don't, you can make this contraption to push the meaty mush into a sausage shape: take a 16oz soda bottle, preferably with straight edges, and cut off the bottom. Find a glass or something solid that fits snug inside the bottle so that you can push the ground meat through the opening. You are going to need a lot of strength to do this! Please make sure the pan with boiling water cannot be bumped off the stove and keep kids, pets and impatient eaters out of the kitchen. Safety first!

Now fill the bottle with the meat, tap it tight so that there are no air pockets and hold the bottle over the water. Push the meat through the opening and have someone else cut the string of meat every ten inches or so. The meat will shrink at least a third in the water, so the longer the better. Frikandellen measure on average a good seven inches long.

Allow the meat to boil for five to six minutes, on a medium boil, then retrieve the sausages and dry them on a cooling rack.

Once they've cooled, you can freeze them for future use, or you can crank up the deep-fryer. Straight from the cooling rack, they need about 3 to four minutes in the hot oil (fry at 375F). For frikandellen speciaal you can cut them lengthwise, about 2/3s in, before you fry them.

Serve with mayo, with a bun or "speciaal". If you start training now, you might still be in time to participate in the National Frikandellen Eating competition this year. Good luck!!


54 comments:

  1. These are the #1 snack, and for good reason. I must say that seeing them float in the boiling water does not look so appetizing, but I guess they look nicely brown after deep frying. I would love to taste your home made Frikandellen, so when ever I travel again, I will let you know in time.

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  2. This recipe is definitely the closest you can get to the "real" thing in the snack bar in Holland. I highly recommend this to any Dutch expatriate longing for a good frikandel. I at least was extremely excited when I found this recipe a few months ago and was happy to share it with Nicole for her excellent blog.

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  3. Oh and the best way to eat a frikandel is:

    Take a soft white roll (which btw when are you going to cover Dutch soft white rolls on your baking blog? Because the ones you can get here are all just not the right ones :)), cut the roll open, cut the frikandel in half length wise (if you're using a full length frikandel) and cut it open. Then generously douse it with mayonnaise (another one of those things you really need to cover on your blog as there's no good mayonnaise here in the US) and ketchup, then add a generous scoop of diced unions (diced very small).

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    1. Hmmm, I always thought the mayo of the Netherlands overly sweet and insipid.......I would stock up in France, their mayonnaise is wonderfully flavorful. Sorry, fellow dutchies!

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  4. Frankwin, I posted a picture of your broodje. I'll get on that soft roll one of these days, will keep you posted!

    Ben, do let me know when you'll be in town!

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  5. I don't think I've ever been as excited about seeing a blog entry show up in my Google reader as I was this morning. This really is the thing I miss the most from back home. I missed other food too but most of them were pretty easy to find recipes for. I'll definitely have to try this one so thanks for sharing! :)
    Now to see if I can get my mom to mail me a bottle of curry hahah.

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  6. Shadee, thanks for the message. I know exactly how you feel, I was thrilled to find out it is actually do-able! Let me know how they turn out. By the way, I'm a curry girl too, ketchup just doesn't do it for me.

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  7. The key lies in the special spices formula. It has ingredients that also give you the specific frikandel consistency. You can get the real frikandel taste, texture and shape at www.freaknfries.com

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    1. So, how many should I make for you? I make bereklauwen, frikandellen, kroketten, nasi schijven, bami schijven, kaas soufles, Loempia's, lekker bekjes etc etc.
      I also make Curry ketchup and sate saus (de echte).

      If you are interested let me know and maybe we can talk. I am located in Pennsylvania. You can reach me at,

      steenwijk422@gmail.com

      Ron

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  8. Hi DutchYankee, glad you were able to stop by, best of luck with your frikandellen business!

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  9. Thanks Nicole, let me know of you are interested in a free sample :-)

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  10. Leuk dat ik je site gevonden heb zal er zeker een paar receptjes van proberen zoals die krenten bollen. Ik zie dat jij ook frikandell oen maakt van scratch...... Ik maak ze ook maar toch wel iets anders dan jij. ;) Ik gebruik alleen varkensgehakt. Neem maar een kijkje http://arrisje.com/appetizers%20and%20snacks/frikandel.php

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  11. Arrisje, leuk dat je bent komen kijken! De frikandellen zien er goed uit, en ik zag dat je ook bami/nasischijven hebt gemaakt! Goede recepten en een mooie site, ik kom vaker langs!

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  12. Hello Nicole! Ben al een paar dagen aan het koekeloeren op je blog want Mam komt over anderhalve maand bij ons logeren. Ze vliegt nu twee keer per jaar van Nederland naar Iowa en is 88 jaar. Dus extra lekkere dingen is een must. Zeker met de feestdagen.
    Kijkend op je blog heb ik dus al behoorlijk moeten kwijlen.
    Mijn vraag aan jou is of je een idee hebt over curry ketchup? Ik rommel wat aan met ketchup en appelmoes met kruiden maar heb het niet voor elkaar. Alvast bedankt!

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  13. Hi Ellen, wat leuk dat je komt kijken! Ik heb al wat lekkere dingetjes klaargemaakt voor de feestdagen dus kom vooral weer kijken, of subscribe via Facebook als je wilt, dan wordt je vanzelf op de hoogte gehouden! Curry ketchup geeft wat moeilijkheden omdat curry poeder zo verschillend is, van de ene winkel naar de andere. Ik heb me dus tot nu toe maar aan de Hela Curry gehouden, dat vind ik de lekkerste smaak. Misschien dat je moeder een flesje voor je mee kan brengen? Zal ik in de tussentijd eens kijken wat ik voor elkaar kan brouwen :-) Tot gauw!!

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  14. thanks nicole,
    it is so nice to entertain you`re neighbours with something special, like bitterballen and croquets and now frikandellen, it is fun to make `m and taste `m!

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  15. Nicole, thanks for sharing this recipe which I hope to have a go at in the near future.
    I did wonder about the cream, is this purely to add richness?

    On the note of Curry Sauce I use curry powder and ketchup to make an excellent Hela like sauce, but take your point that curry powders can be so different.

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  16. To make the real curry saus, all you need is a bottle of Ketchup, curry powder, garlic powder, brown sugar. Mix everything in a bowl and let stand.
    Put back in the original ketchup bottle and your done.

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  17. Hi Nicole:

    OK - not that crazy about "junkfood" I gave in and made a batch to try them.. (at least I figured, I know what's in these.. :^)

    I make a lot of various sausage at home and have a large 15# stuffer - but figured I did not want to dirty that for a small production like this -

    The "press them out of the bottle method did not really look appealing to me and looked rather difficult -
    so this is what I came up with:

    I took a 9x11 inch glass baking dish and stuffed a ~ 1 1/4 inch thick layer of meat in it - then took a pizza roller knife and cut
    the meat mixture into 9 inch long ~ 1 1/4 inch strips.
    Took the individual strips out and rolled them in round shapes on a plastic worksheet - and then boiled them.

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  18. oh and btw - here a tip from the sausage maker!

    cut the meats in small ~ 3/4 inch pieces and lightly freeze them before grinding them up -
    you get a lot cleaner cut that way and the meat does not "smear" in the grinder..

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  19. I don't know why it surprises me so much that frikandellen are actually made of meat. I will definitely have to try making these, it's been a long time since I last had one.

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    1. Renate, you are too funny! It's like Old Jinks says in a previous comment "at least I know what's in these"... We were always told that frikandellen contain anything but real meat. Granted, homemade frikandellen contain probably more meat and less, shall we say, scraps. These ones are worth trying! If pushing it trough a bottle is too much work, you may want to try Old Jinks's suggestion above and cut it into strips. Have fun!

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  20. Hi Nicole,

    My husband wanted me to make these after he found your recipe and we even brought a meat grinder / sausage maker for the occasion! They tasted delicious and reminded him of the genuine article, a snack he'd loved when he was in Holland years and years ago and has never been able to find elsewhere.

    Ours took a little less in the fryer and when we do it next, we're going to use less leaner meat - some pork shoulder and beef mince. Oh - and I don't know about you, but we definitely think that this is a 2 person job.

    Thank you for the recipe, it's perfect!

    Tickateeboo.

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    1. Tickateeboo, so glad you and your husband liked the recipe. And a new grinder/sausage maker is always a good thing to have :-) Making frikandellen is definitely a two person job, luckily I had a good friend help me!

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  21. Hi Nicole, just wrote you a whole story and it disappeared before I could send it ....... I think.
    Let try again. I just (10 weeks ago) started a Dutch Fusion Restaurant. Check us out on Facebook The Green Mango Stuart or www.thegreenmango.net. For the Rice Table, I flew in two IndoDutch ladies who shared their twenty years of cooking experience in an Indonesian restaurant with my chefs. Linda en Hedy Pastora (the kokkies) are dear friends now. They had to come back to get the kitchen back on track but the food is superb now. A Turkish shawarma butcher from Amsterdam was flown in who tought us to make really good shawarma. It takes 15 different spices to get the right taste. Sorry can't share the spice combination, it is an secret family formula that I had to promise never to reveal. People rave over the rice table and shawarma. We also created derivatives like shawarma piza and broodje rendang. The scary thing is that the of season here in Stuart Florida is very very of-season. However everyone who has shared The Green Mango experience returns with friends. A very good sign. Love your website thank you for doing this. I have a good recopy for spekkoek that I can share, interested?

    Een hele fijne dag gewenst,
    Kim Landeweer

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  22. use this to make them
    http://www.millecroquettes.com/Millecroquettes%20English.html

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  23. Hi Nicole, Thank you so much for putting this recipe on the internet. We made some tonight and I liked the taste better than what we used to get in Holland. As old Jinks said, at least you know what is in it :-) .

    Thanks again,

    Lisa van de Giessen, Maryland.

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  24. and here another thought about getting those Frikandellen into a sausage shape if you don't have a sausage stuffer or struggled with the bottle method......

    take a plastic pastry bag and cut the tip to the size desired
    (~ 1+ inch diameter..) fill the bag with the sausage mush, close the bag and twist to push out the frikandel... :^)

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  25. I love Frikandellen! Always have them on my trips over to Holland. My family knows that and has them for me to eat. Usually on a Saturday night for dinner.

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  26. Dutch Frikandellen only consist of chicken and pork, American frikandellen consist of pork, chicken and beef...

    Stories about all other stuff inside are not true

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    1. I am an American living in The Netherlands and I bought frozen frikandellen from Albert Heijn and in the ingredient list is PAARD. That would be horse meat. I threw them out and will not eat them again. Maybe that's why I thought they tasted a bit spongy.

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  27. Nou wie lust geen frik..het is al over 10 jaar dat ik er had..dus ik zal maar is eentje maken..en die van jou lijk wel lekker..
    Ik zit ook te lezen dat je een curry wilt maken..nou laten we is kijken wat we kunnen doen om je daar bij te helpen..lol
    Hey bel is als je tijd heb..Ik zou je een bakje thee maken maar je zult het zelf in moeten schenken..Hugs

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  28. OMG! I am definatly going to try this recipe i have been to holland twice and i couldnt get enough of the frikandels and also the viandels they are delicious and over here in scotland i cant get them anywhere ik hou van holland!! :-)

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  29. Wow I am so glad to find you. I miss my Dutch food and I am so ready to do some fun zone cooking and have little girl flash backs to growing up with my favorite Dutch food

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  30. Here's another way to get the frikandellen in to shape. Go to Lowes, Homedepot or any hardware store and buy grey PVC pipe (1" ID) and cut that to 9" tubes (deburr the tubes).
    Make your frikandellen mixture and start pressing the PVC tubes down in the bowl of your mixture until the mixture comes out of the top of the tubes. Press it down with your thumb to remove any excessive air.
    Now you have to "harden" them in warm water and I use warm water that almost boils. I found that boiling water makes the frikandellen really dry.
    I put the frikandellen in the water for 15minutes. After that I take all the little pvc tubes out and let them cool off. After they are cooled off you can push the frikandellen easily out of the tubes and they are straight as can be.

    Add a little "buisman" to the almost boiling water and your frikandellen will get the same color as the ones in the snackbar.

    Don't worry about the pvc tubes because they are "Non Toxic" and can be used for this.

    Here is my spice mixture.

    3 tbs ground black pepper
    2 tbs ground cumin
    1 tbs ground coriander
    1/2 tbs ground cloves
    2 tbs ground yellow mustard
    1/4 tbs ground nutmeg
    1/2 tbs cayenne pepper

    For the frikandellen I use the following;

    250 gr fatty pork (like the butt)
    750 gr fatty chicken (breast with a little fat attached but no skin)
    2 eggs
    5 tbs ketjap manis or any sweet soy sauce.
    2 tbs zout
    5 or 6 tbs breadcrumbs
    2 large onions

    If you like to make a large batch of frikandellen just multiply the recipe.

    Enjoy your frikandellen.

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    1. Just noticed that my real name was not displayed in my replies so I changed it.

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    2. Thanks for sharing the recipe and instructions, Ron!!

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    3. Take out the cumin and add a little more ground cloves and you will have "Dolle Mina's"

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    4. Hi Ron
      A bit late but I would like to try your recipe. You state tbs for the amounts. Which are teaspoons and which are table spoons?
      Thanks
      Klaas (New Zealand)

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  31. I'm frik'ing out! Looks so good. Let's start grinding and frying.

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  32. I updated my recipe to get a frikandel that has the same taste as in Holland.

    Take out the cloves, reduce the cumin and add "mace" (foelie) to the mixture. I also upgraded to 1 1/4" pvc tubes instead of the 1" tubes because when you heat the frikandellen in water (at exactly 80degrees Celcius) you will see that they shrink a little.
    1 1/4" will give you 3cm diameter frikandellen and that is what you want.

    Instead of chciken, pork and beef I am now using pork, pork jowl and beef in a 2/10 ratio. Pork is used the most in mine and beef is only 20% of the mixture. The Jowls is what you need and leave the chicken out because they will be a little to dry.

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  33. I hope everyone knows the real Frikandel is made of horse meat.. I know because i live in Holland. Thats why in America it doesn't taste the same.

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  34. I've been making frikandellen for my Dutch neighbors, there's a lot of Dutch owned dairies in the area, for several years. I use a vertical sausage stuffer and removable casings to shape the frik's. Then bring them up to temp in a very low oven so they don't loose the fat and dry out.

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  35. We know people who make frikadellen in Beausejour. They have professional kitchen.
    My kroketten are home/hand make and are the best. WE tried van Dobben and Kwekkeboom IN NL, but mine arebette. Mc. Donalds comes close to mime.
    I mad my won spices and that gave the taste

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  36. Ha, fijn, een frikandellenrecept zonder toevoegingen. En dus glutenvrij te maken!
    Heel heel erg bedankt!

    Groet,Greet

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  37. Lekker, ga ik zeker snel eens maken dank je wel!

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  38. Great idea! Looks delicious too! Nothing like some homemade fries. :) I'll make and post my idea once I make it to the grocery store! Thank's for sharing.

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  39. I have been searching for years for this recipe!!!! My very favorite sausage my grandmother made on her farm! I can't wait to try making it!
    Thank you! Denise

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  42. I have no really comment but sometimes i mis these dutch snacks, living in south france

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  43. Be nice if we had a Dutch shop over here so we can buy the nice snack.

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  44. Thank you so much for the recipe! My Dutch husband has been missing these so much and he was so excited when I made him a batch! I think next time I will try the cutting strips method shared earlier. I used the bottle and found a big can like a pumpkin or large refried bean can fit really snuggly inside the 2 liter bottle. It was then much easier for me to brace the can "plunger" against my body and extrude them onto a cutting board. I could then roll them carefully off the board into the boiling water. We're about to fry the first batch but my husband has already eaten 2 and said they "really have that frikadellen taste". :) -Heather

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