Photo credit Clay Williams Photography.
These are a favorite Passover recipe of mine for matzo meal fritters dressed up with duck. Sometimes these frirtters are made sweet with dried fruits and nuts for dessert, but this version stuffed with duck and cooked in duck fat is true heaven.
They can also be made simple without the duck, as matzo meal fritters.
Chremslach (Duck Fritters)
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup matzo meal
- 1½ cups water
- 1 duck leg if using confit duck, soak in water for 30 minutes to remove excess salt
- ¼ large onion small diced
- 1 egg whisked
- 30 grams duck fat room temperature
- Salt
- Duck fat chicken fat, or oil for sauteing
Instructions
- Mix together matzo meal and water in a medium bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- While matzo meal and water mixture rests, debone duck legs. Dice skin and meat into approximately ¼” pieces.
- Throw small diced duck pieces into skillet and render on medium low heat. When duck is about halfway rendered, add onion and stir. Continue to render duck and caramelizing onions on medium low heat, stirring periodically.
- When duck and onions are brown and rendered, remove from heat and stir into matzo meal mixture. Add whisked egg, duck fat and salt and mix to make a uniform mixture.
- Heat a skillet with a ¼” of duck fat (or your preferred oil). Grab a bowl of cold water. Dip hands in the cold water, shaking off excess. Quickly shape a 3” patty and slip it into the oil. Repeat until the pan is full. Shallow fry the fritters until golden brown on both sides and fully cooked in the middle. You can also shape the patties ahead of time and refrigerate on a parchment paper-lined tray.
My very close friend’s maternal Bube & Zede both came to the US from believe or not from Kiev, Ukraine. I remember visiting them and tasting her Pesach Chremslach and they were totally PARVE. Matza meal,little salt, sugar, eggs, rolled in cinnamon sugar and fried in oil and some were baked. Heavenly!!!! She also made chicken liver knishes with a potato casing.