Hungarian Pork Patties (Fasírt)

"Fasírt" is a very popular dish in Hungary, which can be made several ways: breadcrumb-coated patties, as small balls, fried in oil or as a meatloaf, baked in the oven. There is no exact recipe for this dish - mine is just a base (how I prefer it), but you can modify it to your taste - add more or less garlic, bread, paprika, pepper etc. I usually serve it with mashed potatoes, and pickles, but any side dish goes well with it. It's even delicious hot or cold, with a slice of good quality bread.
Ingredients (for 6 people, makes about 20 patties /depending its' size)
1000 grams (2,2 lbs) ground pork (from shoulder or other fattier parts)
1 large or 2 small onions
3-4 tbs vegetable oil or lard (for frying the onions)
2 stale bread rolls (or 2 large slices of stale white bread)
about 220 ml (about 1 cup) of milk or water
2 eggs
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsps of freshly ground black pepper
2 tsps of salt (I used sea salt)
3 tsps of paprika
couple of handfuls of breadcrumb
vegetable oil for frying
1. Chop the onions finely then cook it gently in the heated oil or lard until it's softened but not brown.
2. While the onion is cooking, tear the stale bread rolls (or slices of bread) into large pieces and put them into a bowl. Pour the milk (or water over). Turn the bread pieces over, pushing them into the liquid and set aside, let them soak.
3. Check the onion - if it's ready, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool
4. Put the ground meat into a large bowl, add the eggs, minced garlic, pepper, salt, and paprika.
5. Squeeze the milk (or water) out from the bread /try to remove as much liquid as possible/, then add/crumble it into the meat-mixture.
6. Now, add the sautéed (and already cooled) onion to the mix (discard the oil).
7. Mix everything together with your hand, knead it until it's well combined and you have a soft, loose mixture. It shouldn't be hard - we'd like to get light, fluffy meat patties after frying, not „bricks” :D
8. Take a small handful of the meat-mix, form a ball the flatten it a little between your palms. Gently coat it with breadcrumbs all over, both sides. Put it on a tray than repeat it with all the meat.
9. If you'd like to make party-food/finger food from it, make walnut-size meatballs, and coat them in the breadcrumb
10. Heat the oil in a large pan (it should be about1 inch /2.5 cm deep) until it's quite hot, but not smoking. Gently put the patties into it. For the first 1-2 minutes fry them on medium-high heat, them reduce it to medium. Fry for about 5-6 minutes one side, then turn them over, and fry the other side for 5-6 minutes too.
11. Remove the patties with a slotted spoon, and place them on paper towel to remove the excess oil.
12. Serve with any side you like - I prefer mashed potato and pickles.
13. Do the same with the small meatballs (if you making them). Cut small rounds from sliced bread, put pickle-slices on them, then some mustard, and place the „Fasírt”-meatballs on top and secure with a toothpick.
14. ENJOY!
/The music is based on a Hungarian folk song, played and made by my husband, MrStick© 2019 - (all rights reserved)/