Kari Aihinen reveals her mother’s meatball recipe.
Kari Aihisen’s mother, Tarja, always fries the meatballs in a cast iron pan. However, the meatballs in the picture were fried by someone else. Adobe Stock / AOP
Chef and restaurateur Kari “Kape” Aihinen know how to make mom’s delicious meatballs. This instruction is from Aihine’s mother Tarja Aihinen and meatballs made with it have been eaten in the Aihinen family for many decades and several generations.
In order to succeed in making meatballs, you should keep a few things in mind.
– Mother’s meatballs were made from minced meat from Mestaripalvi of Turku. The recipe contains a kilo of ground beef and about half a kilo of beef and pork. Meatballs must contain fat, says Aihinen.
Raw onion is also essential for the success of the end result.
On one issue, Aihine and her mother Tarja are completely unconditional. The best meatballs are fried in a pan, preferably a cast iron pan. One more time: the meatballs are only cooked in a frying pan, never in the oven.
– Cooking in the oven is a sin of lazy people. Then the meatball does not have a good taste of butter, the liquids come out and the surface of the meatball remains gray, Aihine lists.
Kari Aihinen divides her time between the Robusto restaurants in Helsinki and the Roster restaurants in Turku, among others. Kaisa Vehkalahti
He doesn’t warm up for oven cooking, even if the surface of the bun is browned in a pan and only the rest in the oven.
Aihine’s mother’s recipe does not have exact amounts or working steps. The main thing is that all the ingredients are mixed together and the dough is rolled into rather small balls.
– Mother’s dough is quite tight. I personally like to make looser meatballs, says Aihinen.
When it comes to food, this also applies to the familiar instruction, i.e. taste and flavors.
Tarja’s mother’s meatballs
1 kg of ground beef
about 0.5 kg ground beef and pork
about 3 dl breadcrumbs
about 4 dl cream
1-2 raw onions
1-2 eggs
salt and black pepper to taste
butter for frying
1. Mix the breadcrumbs with the cream and let it swell for a while.
2. Add minced meat, chopped onion, eggs and spices to the cream. Stir.
3. Roll the dough into small meatballs.
4. Cook in butter over medium heat. First, sear the meatballs’ surfaces and then lower the heat and cook, moving the pan from time to time.