Grind, wrap, and fry. Try your hand at making Dutch schnitzel
Good beer and honest cooking
We serve beer that's fresh, right to the last sip, and real home cooking. Lokál is a place where good beer and honest food matter.
Collagen as a binder
Did you know that no flour is added to the Dutch schnitzel mixture? This makes it pliable, and makes the cheese stretch beautifully when it's cut. Eggs and collagen from the meat act as a binder – at Lokál they rely on pork belly. For a perfect result, it is necessary to follow a few important steps that we've mapped out for you with chef Libor Baďura of Lokal.cz.
"The meat for a Dutch schnitzel must contain fat to make the dish juicy. That's why the pork belly won it for us," explains Libor, already skinning it and cutting it into medium-sized cubes. He then grinds them in a grinder on a medium (cooled and sharpened!) attachment.
Cheese: an important choice
Are you tempted to throw cheese into the grinder with the meat? Wait a moment! The cheese gets unnecessarily soft in the grinder, and this means it won't stretch when the schnitzel is cut. Grate it coarsely and add it to the mixture with the meat. "At Lokál, we use eidam. You can also try gouda, but in my opinion, it's the eidam cheese that suits the dish best," says Libor.
Add chopped onion
Add the finely chopped chives (or spring onions), eggs and milk to the meat and cheese and start mixing thoroughly. Add pepper and salt, but be careful with the salt, as the cheese is salty in itself. Finally, taste the mixture, or preferably fry a test piece.
Breadcrumbs, and into the hot oil
Form an oval pancake and roll it in a classic triple layer breadcrumb coating. "Make sure that the meat is coated properly and that no cracks form anywhere, so that the juices do not run out when frying. In Lokál, Dutch schnitzel is shaped like a teardrop, so that it looks different on the plate to steaks or meatballs," Libor adds another tip.
While you're wrapping, keep a frying pan hot on the stove with vegetable oil. "Once the schnitzel has browned, turn down the heat and fry for about 5-6 minutes until golden brown," Libor advises. Then you can put it on the plate, with mashed potatoes and pickles.
For Lokál's Dutch schnitzel you'll need:
(For 4 servings)
- 400 g pork belly
- 270 g of Eidam-type cheese
- 1.5 eggs
- 12 g chopped chives
- 50-100 ml milk (depending on the moisture of the meat)
- salt and pepper
For the triple wrap:
- plain flour
- eggs
- breadcrumbs
- Remove the skin from the pork belly and cut it into cubes.
- Grind the meat on medium coarse.
- Grate the cheese on a coarse grater and add to the meat.
- Add the egg, chives and milk to the mixture and season with salt and pepper.
- Mix everything thoroughly and shape into teardrop-shaped pancakes.
- Wrap in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
For interest: And how do they make a Dutch schnitzel in Holland? They don't! The Dutchman's schnitzel is of purely Czech origin. It is connected to Holland only by the towns of Edam and Gouda, where the cheese comes from, which is grated into minced pork belly. We haven't been able to find out exactly when and how Dutch schnitzel became a Czech speciality, so if a Dutchman asks you, just smile and say "cheese".
