Fried Schupfnudeln are a unique delight to enjoy freshly fried, to savor them in all their crunchiness. They are perfect both to serve as a side dish, or as finger food with an aperitif, accompanied by sauces of your choice.
Schupfnudeln are a type of elongated potato dumplings with pointed ends, usually cooked in water and then sautéed in a pan with butter, or butter and poppy seeds for the sweet version, called Mohnnudeln. But they are also found fried, in restaurants, or even at Christmas markets, to be enjoyed like French fries. As the name suggests, they originate from Austria and Germany.
If you like typical Austrian and German dishes, also try these recipes of mine:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Austrian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1.2 lbs potatoes
- 2 tbsps butter
- to taste salt
- 1 egg
- 1.6 cups flour
- 3 cups peanut oil (for frying)
- to taste salt
Steps
To prepare the fried Schupfnudeln, start by cooking the potatoes. You have two options, you can wash the potatoes well and cook them whole, in water or steam, with the skin until they are soft, it will take about 45 minutes, but the time varies based on the size of the potatoes. Alternatively, you can peel them, cut them into cubes of about 1.2 x 1.2 inches and steam them, it will take about 25 minutes. If you cook the whole potatoes, with the skin, you can also cook them in water, but in the second case it’s best to steam them only, as otherwise they would absorb too much water during cooking and become watery, which would mean adding a lot of flour to make the dumplings, rendering them hard.
Once you’ve chosen the method for cooking the potatoes, it’s important to always check the level of doneness with a fork, as the times mentioned above are indicative. When the potatoes are cooked, put them in the potato ricer whole and with the skin in the first case, as the skin will remain in the ricer, otherwise you can simply put the already cut cubes in the ricer. Place the riced potatoes on the work surface, add the butter in small pieces and the salt. Then let them cool. This is also important, as cold potatoes absorb less flour.
When the potatoes have cooled, add the egg and flour and quickly knead with your hands until you get a homogeneous, soft, and non-sticky dough. Work it quickly and don’t overwork it, as the more you work it, the more flour it will absorb and you’ll have to keep adding it to obtain a non-sticky dough.
Divide the dough into 4-5 pieces and on a floured surface, form a roll about 0.8 inches thick with the first piece. Cut the dough roll into pieces of about 0.8 inches, then shape each piece into an elongated form (about 2.4 inches), with slightly pointed ends. Place the obtained potato dumplings on a floured surface (cutting board or plastic lid), waiting to cook them.
Put the oil in a large pot suitable for frying and heat it until it reaches 330-340 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, you can dip the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil, if bubbles rise around it, the oil is ready.
Then put about 15 Schupfnudeln (more or less, depending on the size of your pot) and let them fry until golden, stirring gently with a spoon occasionally, to get an even fry. It will take about 4-5 minutes.
Don’t put too many at once, but fry the Schupfnudeln in batches. Once fried, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, lay them on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil, salt, and keep warm until you have fried the remaining Schupfnudeln.
Serve your fried Schupfnudeln immediately as a side dish, or even with an aperitif, accompanied by sauces of choice.
Tips
Schupfnudeln can also be frozen while still raw. In this case, place them on a floured cutting board, without touching each other, and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, you can transfer them into food bags and store them in the freezer until needed. They are then put into hot oil still frozen, until golden.
