Prażoki — potato dumplings with pork cracklings and onion

Peel the potatoes and weigh 1000 g flesh. Rinse, cut into similar pieces about 3 cm across and place in a heavy-bottomed saucepan holding about 3 liters. Cover with 1500 g water; do not salt at this stage. Simmer gently with the lid slightly open for about 18–22 minutes from boiling, until a knife enters easily. Do not leave the centers hard. Prepare the topping while they cook.

Cut all 80 g pork backfat without skin into 5–7 mm cubes and spread in a cold frying pan about 24 cm across. Heat over medium-low for about 8–10 minutes, stirring, until fat renders and the pieces begin turning lightly golden. Do not add oil, butter or water. Do not pour away the rendered fat: together with the cracklings, it will form all the topping for this batch.

Add all 150 g finely chopped onion to the backfat and rendered fat. Fry gently for about 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft and golden and the cracklings browned. Lower the heat if they darken quickly. Remove the pan from the heat; all onion, cracklings and fat stay for serving. Do not drain on paper and do not reserve any for another meal.

Carefully weigh exactly 100 g hot potato cooking water into a heatproof container. Drain the rest while holding the lid with oven mitts, or use a colander and immediately return the potatoes to the hot pan. Pour in the reserved 100 g liquid and add all 6 g salt. The remaining cooking water is not part of the servings. Do not add any more water while beating.

Spread all 150 g flour evenly over the hot potatoes without stirring yet. Use a wooden spoon handle to make 3–4 holes through the flour down to the potatoes so steam can rise. Cover and heat on very low for about 10–12 minutes. The bottom liquid should steam gently and the flour become visibly moist. Do not increase the heat, so the base does not scorch. Do not skip steaming and do not add raw flour after this stage.

Remove the pan from the heat and set firmly on a trivet. Hold the handle with an oven mitt and mash and beat vigorously for about 4–5 minutes, until no potato pieces or dry flour pockets remain. The mixture should be thick and sticky, pulling away from the sides as you stir. Return to the lowest heat for about 2–3 minutes and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly hot throughout. Do not use a blender or mixer.

If the topping has cooled, warm briefly over low heat. Grease a large spoon with a little fat from the same pan and scoop portions of warm potato mixture. Slide onto plates with a second spoon, making about 24 irregular, slightly ragged dumplings. Grease the spoon again with this topping every few dumplings. Use all the mixture; do not roll logs on flour and do not boil the dumplings in water again.

Divide the dumplings into 4 servings of about 6 each, depending on spoon size. Top each with onion and cracklings, then evenly pour over all remaining pan fat. Fat used to grease the spoon belongs to this same topping and is not an extra ingredient. Serve warm immediately, without herbs, sour cream or other decoration. All dumplings, cracklings, onion and available fat belong to these four servings.

Transfer leftovers to a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours. Keep covered for up to 2 days. Reheat covered over low heat with the saved topping until hot throughout, turning gently; they become firmer after chilling. Do not leave potato mixture or finished dumplings on the counter overnight. These servings include the whole prepared recipe, without a separate reserve of topping.