Flädle

The pancakes are rolled tight and sliced into ribbons, and that is the whole dish.

Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

150 g plain flour
3 eggs
300 ml milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter, for frying
1.5 litres clear beef broth
3 tablespoons chives, chopped fine

Method

THE PANCAKES ARE ROLLED TIGHT AND SLICED INTO RIBBONS, AND THAT IS THE WHOLE DISH. The article's method is one sentence: FLÄDLE ARE MADE BY FIRST MAKING PLAIN CREPE-STYLE PANCAKES, THEN TIGHTLY ROLLING THEM UP AND SLICING THEM INTO RIBBONS.
SO IT IS A GARNISH THAT BECAME A COURSE. The article calls it A SOUTHERN GERMAN GARNISH AND SOUP INGREDIENT, and it is THEN USUALLY SERVED IN A CLEAR SOUP OR BEEF BROTH in a dish of Flädlesuppe. The ribbons are the only solid thing in the bowl.
WHICH MEANS THE BROTH HAS TO BE GOOD AND HAS TO BE CLEAR. There is nothing else to hide behind. Strain it twice.
THE PANCAKES ARE SAVOURY, NOT SWEET. No sugar, and nutmeg rather than vanilla. In other parts of Germany the dish is EIERKUCHENSUPPE, from the name EIERKUCHEN -- egg cakes -- which is what pancakes are called there.
MAKE THE BATTER THIN AND REST IT HALF AN HOUR. Thin enough to coat the pan in a film; a thick pancake gives you dumplings rather than ribbons.
FRY THEM PALE AND DRY, not golden. Browned edges go leathery in hot broth and the ribbons curl.
STACK THEM AS THEY COME AND LET THEM COOL FLAT. Rolled warm, they stick to themselves and tear when cut.
ROLL EACH ONE AS TIGHTLY AS IT WILL GO, then slice across at three or four millimetres. Loose rolls give ribbons of uneven width that cook unevenly.
THE RIBBONS GO INTO THE BOWL, NOT THE POT. Broth poured over them keeps them separate; simmered in the pot they swell and thicken the soup into porridge.
CHIVES OVER THE TOP AND SERVE AT ONCE. Its Austrian cousin is Frittatensuppe, made with Palatschinken, which the article calls an Austrian national dish.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes