Is It a Bierock or a Runza? These Savory Midwestern Buns Are Scrumptious Both Method

No dish jogs my memory of my residence state of Kansas—and the Midwest generally—greater than a bierock (pronounced BEER-ock). Like so many Midwestern meals, it’s undoubtedly modest fare: a spherical bread roll (often fist-sized or slightly bigger) made with tender, enriched bread and stuffed with beef, onions, and cabbage. “However wait,” I hear you say, “That’s a runza!” In fact, “bierock” is the extra frequent designation in Kansas, whereas “runza” is often attributed to Nebraska, however these buns go by many names, together with krautburgers, pirozhki, and fleischbrok (with numerous spelling variations and pronunciations for every variation). They’ll all be traced again to an expansive ethnoreligious neighborhood of Volga German Mennonites who’ve been sharing and mixing their traditions within the American Heartland for over a century and a half. As a Kansan and descendant of that group, I’d prefer to current my case for the common-or-garden bierock.

A Transient Historical past of Bierocks

Runzas are similar to bierocks besides in form; they are usually rectangular, whereas bierocks are round. We are able to owe the recognition of the “runza” moniker to a Nebraska-based quick meals chain of the identical identify. Runza eating places have reached a cult favourite standing in Nebraska (with a number of areas in surrounding states), to the purpose of warranting a marketing campaign cease from vice presidential candidate Tim Walz earlier this yr. Though Walz asserted, “Don’t name it the rest apart from runza,” the time period is definitely a genericization. Runza’s founder, Sally Everett, coined the time period, and her household trademarked it shortly after opening the chain’s first location in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1949.*

“Bierock,” however, seemingly developed from the Russian phrase “pirog” (actually: pie), which encompasses a class of baked yeast breads or pastries full of candy or savory fillings. It in all probability entered the Mennonite lexicon within the 18th century, when a bunch from Polish Prussia settled alongside the banks of the Volga River in Russia and present-day Ukraine. They lived there together with different German immigrants, which led to the area’s inhabitants being categorised as Volga Germans. 

Based on Norma Jost Voth’s Mennonite Meals & Folkways From South Russia, Quantity II, these newly Russian Mennonites had been expert agriculturalists in addition to pacifists, and Catherine the Nice’s authorities had put out an interesting provide: farm the land in alternate for spiritual freedom and dispensation from navy service. They lived there till that promise was revoked within the 1870s, triggering a wave of Volga German immigration to the USA. They primarily settled on the plains of Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota, the place many proceed to farm wheat, corn, and cattle at this time.

I grew up in certainly one of these farming communities in Southwestern Kansas, consuming the dishes that Mennonites had assimilated and developed throughout their migrations all through Europe, like kommst borscht (no beets concerned), peppernuts (just like German pfeffernüsse flavored with anise oil), and, after all, bierocks. Should you look, you may pinpoint a number of of the explanations behind bierocks’ longevity in Mennonites’ (and different Midwesterners’) diets. First, bierocks are comparatively cheap to make, because the cabbage dietary supplements a number of the meat, which might be expensive. Second, a big amount of them might be made with a comparatively small batch of bread. Lastly, as a result of they’re self-contained, they’re straightforward to pack for lengthy days throughout harvest season. In our occasions, additionally they have the additional advantage of freezing and reheating extremely effectively.

*Be aware: It’s rumored that Everett used her household’s nickname for the buns, which was primarily based on the phrase for “stomach,” referring to the buns’ rounded form, in a blended dialect referred to as Low German. Many Mennonites nonetheless communicate Low German (often known as Plautdietsch), however fewer write with it, and I couldn’t discover robust proof to confirm the interpretation. As a substitute, a Low German-speaking Mennonite buddy confirmed that it sounded just like “rund,” or the Low German phrase for spherical.

The Key Methods for Making Wonderful Bierocks

Some sects of spiritual Mennonites restrict their use of recent applied sciences—together with the web—which I believe has contributed to the shortage of consistency round how we speak about conventional bierocks, their variations, and how one can make them. For that purpose, the recipe I’m sharing right here is my good model of the Kansan Mennonite bierocks I ate rising up. It began from a way I developed as a teen once I offered home made bierocks in my small city to earn pocket cash throughout highschool. I additionally went to the supply and consulted neighborhood cookbooks with recipes aggregated from Mennonites in my hometown and throughout the nation. 

Most of their recipes name for simple fillings made solely of floor beef, onion, and cabbage (generally sauerkraut), seasoned with salt and pepper. I recreated a seasoning salt and added paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder for additional taste whereas staying near custom. Many merely name for “bread dough” to wrap the filling, and as of late, it’s frequent to make use of a thaw-and-bake white bread dough from the grocery retailer, like Rhodes model, for a weeknight shortcut. 

I vastly want the style and consistency of home made white bread, completely enriched with sugar, milk, butter, and eggs. Not solely do these components add sweetness and richness to the flavour of the bread, however they create a extra tender, delicate crumb. The sugar holds onto moisture within the dough and delays the event of gluten. The fats from the dairy and eggs additional inhibits gluten improvement by coating the protein molecules, which prevents them from linking collectively. I additionally particularly developed this dough to be smooth however not cheesy, making it straightforward to work with whereas rolling and forming. Listed here are three extra suggestions I’ve discovered for making one of the best bierocks.

The Finest Solution to Form Bierocks

The perfect bierocks have a bread-to-filling ratio that appears roughly equal when sliced in half after baking. They’ve meat and cabbage in each chew and are wrapped with sufficient dough to make a uniform layer of sweetened, fluffy bread. Even essentially the most completely proportioned bierock can fall flat (metaphorically and actually) if it’s not formed effectively, although. At this level, most Mennonite recipes direct the reader to easily roll the dough out and fill it with out extraneous particulars concerning measurements or how one can do it. I’ve, due to this fact, labored via a decade of misshapen, deflated, and holey bierocks to search out my favourite method to kind them. 

The primary important shaping step is rolling. The most typical downside I’ve encountered (each in my very own kitchen and with bierocks others have made) is a tricky, bready knot within the backside of the roll. This occurs when the dough is hand-pressed or not rolled out sufficient, yielding a dense seam the place the thick edges are pressed collectively. Stretching the dough too skinny, however, makes it inclined to ripping and causes a lumpy, ugly high when pulled over the filling. The perfect methodology I’ve discovered is a compromise between the 2: hold the middle of every dough spherical about as thick as a storebought flour tortilla, then barely improve the strain as you roll out towards its edges. The gradual tapering across the diameter helps create a fair backside seam whereas preserving sufficient dough within the middle for a {smooth}, rounded high after it’s sealed and flipped. Loads of filling (virtually a cup per roll) additionally helps help the bun from the within to maintain it from collapsing.

As for closing up the buns, it could be tempting to attempt to smush all the perimeters collectively over the filling—it’s even how I used to be taught to do it—however this method might be hit-or-miss. A crammed-together seal is more likely to trigger the robust, doughy bottoms I discussed above. For higher, extra constant outcomes,I like to recommend taking the time to pleat the perimeters one after the other, a way impressed by the identical one used to seal Chinese language dumplings like xiao lengthy bao. This methodology lets you add just a bit dough to the seam with every pinch and yields a uniform backside after baking. Resist the urge to poke holes to launch any air you may really feel contained in the closed bierocks—it gained’t be noticeable when the bun proves and expands whereas cooking. The ultimate egg wash step on the raw rolls provides a shiny, deep golden end.

Prepare dinner Out the Moisture

Be sure to prepare dinner out any extra liquid when making ready the filling, notably in case you’re altering it up with moisture-rich components like mushrooms or sauerkraut. You need to use a pan with a large floor space to facilitate evaporation. Although a 12-inch sauté pan or forged iron skillet will work particularly effectively, you would additionally use a braiser or giant Dutch oven. This recipe makes use of water to assist shortly tenderize the cabbage, however you must prepare dinner and stir till the cabbage is wilted and tender and there’s no seen liquid within the backside of the pan. Extreme moisture could make the smooth bread soggy, particularly when reheating.

Experiment With Your Filling

This recipe is for a Mennonite-style of bierocks, and it is the model you’ll sometimes discover in small cities all through Kansas at this time. Upon getting the approach down, although, be happy to change it up! Bierocks are nice canvases for inventive fillings. Cheese is a typical however nontraditional addition (I didn’t encounter it till I heard about Runza eating places as an grownup), however you may stir your selection of shredded or cubed cheese into the cooled filling or add slightly into every bun earlier than you form it. It’s also possible to change up the kind of meat. Attempt swapping in floor turkey or thinly sliced steak, and changing some (or all) of the cabbage with sauerkraut or different greens like sliced peppers or broccoli. Including spices like taco seasoning and cotija for a Tex-Mex type, or use Italian herbs, an enormous spoonful of tomato paste, and shredded mozzarella for pizza-inspired bierocks. There’s no proper or fallacious means—simply essentially the most scrumptious means for you. Simply make sure to purpose for six cups of cooked filling to swimsuit this recipe’s batch of bread.

The right way to Serve Bierocks

I like my bierocks with an enormous swipe of yellow mustard on every chew, however they’re additionally unbelievable with complete grain, spicy brown, or Dijon mustard. Ketchup is one other frequent dipper, however you would additionally department out with barbecue sauce, steak sauce, and even brown gravy. Or, simply eat them as-is!

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