Hedgehogs: a recipe for cooking

Meat hedgehogs are one of the most beloveddishes for children and adults. However, not everyone knows the recipes and rules for their preparation. In fact, hedgehogs were named so because their rice sticks out like needles. These cooking recipes came to us from ancient Chinese cuisine. In the 18th century, hedgehogs were cooked as a full-fledged dish for Chinese subjects, because meat was a very expensive pleasure for ordinary people in China. Now, of course, this dish is available to everyone. Such recipes can be found in different books, but each housewife still makes it in her own way.

Stewed meat hedgehogs in tomato sauce

This recipe is quite common in our country.country. This recipe is shared by both grandmothers and mothers, it is passed down from generation to generation. For cooking we will need: 1 kg of minced meat, 150 g of raw rice, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying in a pan. For the sauce: 2 large carrots, 2 onions, 3 large tomatoes, a pinch of salt, herbs (parsley, green onions, dill). You can also take dried herbs if it is winter outside. It is best to make the minced meat yourself, but if you do not have time for this, you can buy ready-made at the market. In the store it usually lies for a long time, so it is not fresh, and at the market for 10 rubles you can ask for the meat to be ground into minced meat for you. Rice needs to be boiled until half cooked. Take raw rice, pour it into a small saucepan and pour 1.5 portions of water. You don't have to wash the rice, stores usually sell rice that has been steamed. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat to low and cook until the water evaporates. You don't have to add salt. The rice will be slightly undercooked, and that's good. After all, we'll be stewing our hedgehogs later, and the grains of rice should be cooked inside the mince, then they'll swell and stick out like needles. When the rice has cooled, mix it with the mince, add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 egg so that the hedgehogs don't fall apart in the frying pan. Then form the hedgehogs, and while we're doing that, turn on the frying pan to fry them a little. Pour a small amount of vegetable oil into the frying pan and place our meat hedgehogs in the frying pan. You can also use butter, but it's full of carcinogens, so on the advice of nutritionists, we'll fry them in vegetable oil. Fry them for about 5 minutes on each side. The main thing is to get a golden crust. As soon as the hedgehogs are fried, put them in a small saucepan. Now you need to make the sauce. To do this, take the carrots, grate them, finely chop the onion and tomatoes. Fry the carrots and onions in a frying pan, then add the chopped tomatoes and simmer until the tomatoes are completely soft. At the very end, add the chopped greens and simmer for another 5 minutes. Now mix all of our frying, it can be added to the hedgehogs. Pour in enough water so that the hedgehogs are completely submerged in water. Put on low heat to simmer. Simmer for about half an hour. The hedgehogs are ready! The recipe prescribes serving the hedgehogs with potatoes and the gravy from under them.

Meat hedgehogs in the oven under white sauce

This recipe is considered more sophisticated becausethat this recipe is based on a sauce that is not so easy to prepare. To cook hedgehogs in the oven, you will need the following products: 1 kg of minced meat, 150 g of raw rice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 150 g of cheese for the crust. For the sauce: 1 tbsp. flour, 1/2 l of meat broth, a pinch of coriander. Also take the minced meat, add the rice already cooked until half-ready, and mold the hedgehogs. Put them in a baking dish. Turn on the oven to 180 degrees. And start preparing the white sauce. We need to fry 2 tbsp. flour in a dry frying pan until the flour acquires a beautiful copper hue. Now pour in the meat broth and stir thoroughly so that lumps do not form. When the sauce begins to thicken a little, add a pinch of coriander to it. And simmer this sauce until it reaches the consistency of thick sour cream. Now pour the sauce over the hedgehogs and put the dish in the oven for about 40 minutes. Sprinkle grated cheese on top 10 minutes before they are ready. As soon as a golden crust appears on top, the hedgehogs are ready! They can be served with stewed vegetables, with a fresh salad, or as a separate dish. When serving, you will definitely need to pour the sauce over the hedgehogs right on the plate: then the taste will be even more delicate, and the hedgehogs will be even more aromatic. And do not forget to sprinkle the hedgehogs with herbs, the more the better. The taste will not be spoiled at all.

Meat hedgehogs stewed in creamy garlic sauce

And this is the easiest and fastest recipe for hedgehogs.You will need: 1 kg of minced meat, 150 g of raw rice, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, greens (dill and parsley), 500 ml of fresh cream (preferably country cream), 2 cloves of garlic. We do everything exactly as the previous recipes dictated to us, that is, we cook the rice until half-cooked, mix it with the minced meat, add the egg, and form our hedgehogs. Fry them in a frying pan for 5 minutes on each side. Next, we need to chop 2 cloves of garlic very finely or grate them on the smallest grater, add the chopped garlic to the cream and mix thoroughly. Then pour all this splendor into the frying pan with the hedgehogs. And simmer our dish for 20 minutes. At the end, add chopped greens and simmer for another 5 minutes. Such hedgehogs should also be served with gravy! The filling for the hedgehogs is This is the simplest combination you can imagine, but what delicious dishes you get when you put your heart and soul into them. But there are also hedgehogs in mushroom sauce, and hedgehogs in sour cream sauce, and much more. Usually, the recipes for their preparation are not much different from those written above. The whole point is that you always need to add various sauces for them. And making sauces is a whole art! Especially if you are sure which ingredients are suitable for this or that sauce. And if you constantly experiment, try new recipes, read recipes on the Internet, collect recipes from friends, then you can become known as the most enviable chef who can turn even such a simple dish as ordinary meat hedgehogs into a masterpiece of culinary art!