Fuchky (sauerkraut pancakes)

What it is

Fuchky are pancakes made from liquid batter and sauerkraut, fried in a pan like deruny. The cabbage is squeezed, finely chopped, and mixed into a batter made of flour and water or milk; seasoned with caraway, marjoram, and pepper.

The book 'Boyko Cuisine', compiled by Ukrainian and Polish researchers of Boyko traditions, describes fuchky as a regional Bieszczady dish and mentions another name — 'cudaki'. Its recipe does not include eggs: the batter is bound with flax seeds soaked in hot water, making these fuchky lean.

On the Polish side of the Carpathians, fuchky are considered a dish of Lemko cuisine. There, they were once made with oat flour, but now more often with wheat flour, including eggs and onions, and served with sour cream or garlic sauce.

Fuchky are served with sour cream or garlic sauce, and in the lean version — with fresh herbs and vegetable salad; they also complement meat or fish.

In the Polish Bieszczady and Low Beskids, fuchky are on the menus of restaurants and mountain lodges — as a hot appetizer or a side dish to meat. Good fuchky are thin and crispy at the edges, while the sauerkraut adds a sourness that is absent in regular deruny.

History and name

Oat flour and sauerkraut were everyday products in mountain villages: a Lemko family would prepare several large barrels of cabbage for winter. Fuchky are one way to quickly make a hot dish from these supplies.

The origin of the name is not explained by the sources. The Polish spelling is fuczki; today, fuchky are one of the dishes that welcome guests in the Polish Bieszczady.

Ingredients and allergens

Variant: lean, with flax seeds

Sauerkraut350 gShredded cabbage, fermented with salt in a barrel; a winter supply for every mountain family.

Wheat flour200 gFor the dough of varenyky, palačinky, bobalyok, and pasky.Contains allergens: gluten

Flax seeds2 tbspSteeped flax seeds bind the dough without eggs — this is how lean fuchky are made.

Also: marjoram (a pinch), wild thyme (a pinch, optional), water (400–500 ml), caraway (1.5 tsp), salt (to taste), black pepper (to taste), sunflower oil (for frying)

Contains allergens: gluten
Diet: lenten · vegan

Variant: with milk and egg

sauerkraut, wheat flour, milk, eggs, onion, caraway, salt, black pepper, sunflower oil, sour cream

Contains allergens: gluten, milk, eggs
Diet: vegetarian

Variant: old, with oat flour

sauerkraut, oat flour, milk, eggs, onion, salt, black pepper, sunflower oil

Contains allergens: gluten, milk, eggs
Diet: vegetarian

Ingredients of the traditional recipe; every cook and every place may do it differently — please ask when ordering. We cannot guarantee the absence of allergens or traces.

How it is traditionally made

• Sauerkraut — 350 g
• Wheat flour — 200 g
• Water — 400–500 ml
• Flax seeds — 2 tbsp
• Caraway — 1.5 tsp
• Marjoram — a pinch
• Wild thyme — a pinch
• Salt — to taste
• Black pepper — to taste
• Sunflower oil — for frying

1. Pour 100 ml of hot water over the flax seeds and let them steep and cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour with water (or milk) to the consistency of liquid sour cream, then add the flax along with its infusion.
3. Squeeze the sauerkraut, finely chop it, and mix it into the batter.
4. Season with salt, pepper, caraway, and crushed marjoram.
5. Heat oil in a pan, spoon the batter into the pan, and fry on both sides until golden brown, like deruny.
6. Serve hot.

How it is served

With sour cream or garlic sauce; in lean times — with fresh herbs and vegetable salad.

Variants

In the lean Boyko recipe, the batter is bound with soaked flax seeds; in Polish Lemko recipes, eggs, milk, and onions are added, and previously oat flour was used instead of wheat flour.

The traditional method as described by our sources; every family does it its own way. We have not tested this recipe in a professional kitchen.

Where it is eaten

The area is approximate and based on the sources below. The dish is cooked outside it too, and ethnographic borders are blurred.

Boykivshchyna and Lemkivshchyna on either side of the Ukrainian-Polish border; the most famous fuchky are in the Polish Bieszczady. In Ukraine, the dish is recorded in the book 'Boyko Cuisine'. The area is approximate. In Poland, the map shows the counties of the Low Beskids and Bieszczady — the historical Lemkivshchyna; the area is approximate.

When it is eaten

Occasions: Everyday food · Lent

In tradition

A common dish in the cold season when there is sauerkraut in the barrel. The lean version without eggs and milk is suitable for fasting.

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