Frittatensuppe
One of the most popular soups in the Austrian inn: a clear beef broth holding thin strips of pancake, called frittaten here. Simple, but dependent on two things. The broth must be golden and clear, which comes from a charred onion half and cooking without a boil. And the pancakes are cut rolled, into 3 mm strips, and go into the bowl, not the pot — in hot broth they soon go soggy.
Your own work in that: 5 min.
- Broth 180 min
- Pancakes 25 min
- Cutting strips 10 min
- Serving 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneChar the onion in a dry pan
Set the halved onion cut side down in a dry, hot pan and char 5 minutes until nearly black. It is the classic Austrian way to a golden broth — the charred sugars of the onion colour it without clouding.
Ingredients: 800 g beef brisket · 500 g beef bones · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs carrots · 150 g celeriac · 1 pcs parsley root · 1 pcs leek · 3000 ml water · 1 tsp peppercorns · 1 pcs bay leaf · 2 tsp salt
Cover meat and bones with cold water
Put the brisket and bones in a pot, cover with cold water and heat slowly. Skim for the first 15 minutes, before the broth starts to tremble — after that the movement breaks up the scum and clouds the broth.
Ingredients: 800 g beef brisket · 500 g beef bones · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs carrots · 150 g celeriac · 1 pcs parsley root · 1 pcs leek · 3000 ml water · 1 tsp peppercorns · 1 pcs bay leaf · 2 tsp salt
Cold water and skimming through the first quarter hour.Simmer three hours without boiling
Add the vegetables, charred onion, pepper and bay and cook 3 hours with the surface barely trembling. Salt after two hours. A hard boil breaks the fat into tiny droplets and clouds the broth — and that is hard to put right afterwards.
Ingredients: 800 g beef brisket · 500 g beef bones · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs carrots · 150 g celeriac · 1 pcs parsley root · 1 pcs leek · 3000 ml water · 1 tsp peppercorns · 1 pcs bay leaf · 2 tsp salt
Strain through muslin
Strain the broth through a sieve lined with muslin, without pressing the vegetables. Lift the fat from the surface with a spoon or paper. Keep the meat for a second dish — in Austria boiled beef is served with horseradish or turned into a salad.
Ingredients: 800 g beef brisket · 500 g beef bones · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs carrots · 150 g celeriac · 1 pcs parsley root · 1 pcs leek · 3000 ml water · 1 tsp peppercorns · 1 pcs bay leaf · 2 tsp salt
Cook thin pancakes
Blend the flour, milk, eggs, salt and nutmeg, rest 15 minutes, then cook thin pancakes in butter, 1 minute a side, pale, without browning. This makes 6–7; with the batter's rest it takes about 25 minutes.
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour · 220 ml milk · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 1 pinch nutmeg · 20 g butter
Thin and pale — browned ones smell of frying.Cool and roll the pancakes tightly
Cool the pancakes on a plate, then roll each tightly into a cylinder. Warm ones tear when cut; cold and rolled, they slice cleanly into even strips.
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour · 220 ml milk · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 1 pinch nutmeg · 20 g butter
Slice into very thin strips
Cut the rolls with a sharp knife into strips 3 mm wide and loosen them with your fingers. Thick strips look like homemade noodles and soak too slowly; thin ones sink into the broth with only their edges softening.
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour · 220 ml milk · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 1 pinch nutmeg · 20 g butter
Three millimetres — and loosened with the fingers.Put strips in the bowl and pour over broth
Lay a handful of strips in each bowl and pour over boiling broth. Scatter generously with chives. Do not put the pancakes in the pot — after a few minutes they turn to mush.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp chives
Before you start
Strips on standby
Cut pancakes keep two days in the fridge in an airtight box and freeze well. They are worth keeping to hand — in a minute they turn any broth into Frittatensuppe.
A family of Austrian garnishes
Frittaten are one of many Viennese broth garnishes alongside semolina dumplings, liver dumplings and sponge cubes. The broth stays the same; only what floats in the bowl changes.
Freeze the broth in portions
The broth keeps four days in the fridge and three months frozen. Freeze it in two-bowl portions — Frittatensuppe needs freshly boiled broth, so thaw only what you will serve.
