Meatballs are Lihapullat
- Brooke Brandon
- Sep 30, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 15, 2022
In Finland, meatballs are called lihapullat (literally "meatbuns"). My father-in-law taught me his recipe, which I will share with you today! It's an easy and popular dish that is enjoyed year round. You can even find it on the Christmas table, along with many other dishes. It's typically served with lingonberries or brown gravy with some variety of potatoes on the side. Of course, without question, there is always rye bread and butter on the table.
The secret to a Finnish Meatball is the beef (or a beef/pork mixture) is raised on a small family farm.
Finnish agriculture is based on family-owned farms. These farms form an important portion of Finnish rural occupations, and they are vital members of their local communities. The small farms are a balanced combination of meat production and plant production, as all the roughage required by cattle is produced on the cattle farms. Almost all farms keep records on each parcel of land, including items like a cultivation plan, details of the fertilisers used, and manure-spreading. These reports are reviewed by authorities who ensure that the farms have sufficient field area to spread the manure.
The majority of Finland's area is forested and agricultural land accounts for just 7 per cent. In addition, livestock density of farms is low. Maintaining a small farm system in Finland has two benefits: the environmental pressure caused by agriculture in Finland is one of the lowest in the world and Finns get to enjoy humanely raised beef from small local farms.
Lihapullat Recipe
Ingredients
400 g jauhelihaa 1 lb ground beef
1 dl hienoksi pilkottua sipulia ½ cup finely chopped onion
1 kananmuna 1 egg
½ dl korppujauhoja ¼ cup plain bread crumbs
½ dl turkkilaista jogurttia ¼ cup turkish yogurt
½ tl maustepippuria* ½ tsp ground allspice*
½ tl suolaa ½ tsp salt
½ tl mustapippuria ½ tsp black pepper
4 rkl voita 4 tbsp butter
*We love the allspice flavor in meatballs and it's what makes the Finnish variety unique, but if you haven't tasted it before, you may want to use less.
P.S. Sour cream works well too, instead of yogurt! And if you're serving with mashed potatoes you can put the remaining sour cream in your potatoes.
Directions
Cook the finely diced onion in oil until translucent. Make sure you chop it small because you don't want large pieces of onion in your Lihapullat!
In a mixing bowl, combine egg, bread crumbs, yogurt, spices, and cooked onion. Mix until combined.
Stir ground beef into bread crumb mixture. You can use a spoon to do this. Mix just until evenly distributed. Overworking the mixture can lead to a dense texture.
Using your hands, shape the meet into balls about 1" in size.
Cook the meatballs in batches on medium high heat in butter. Do not crowd the pan to ensure they cook evenly. Turn the meatballs after 2 minutes. Cook this side for another 3 minutes. Finally, lift the pan and roll the balls around trying to get a sear on each side of the meatballs. It takes about 7 - 9 minutes total for meatballs to be cooked through. You can always check one by slicing in half. There should be no pink color inside.
Serve with potatoes and rye bread.
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