December 26, 2024

The Best Authentic Yerushalmi Kugel

This Yerushalmi Kugel is the real deal, and perhaps the recipe you always wished you could prepare.

After having grown up in Israel, my husband had been craving an authentic Yerushalmi Kugel for years. He has this recollection of the way his grandmother used to make it, but when he tried finding the recipe, it existed nowhere.

A few family members offered recipes, but nothing tasted quite like the one he remembered.

And so, the search began for the kugel that is not too sweet, and not just spicy…something with a touch of sweetness, something that would be the epitome of Yerushalmi comfort food the way he remembered it.

He literally visited all the local stores that sell Yerushalmi Kugel, and tried some online searches, and tested lots of versions and recipes. Most were too sweet, they were missing that spiciness…none of them fit his childhood memory of how it was supposed to be.

Through this research process he did get a better idea of what goes into this authentic classic Yerushalmi Kugel and he felt ready to come up with his own recipe.

I won’t say how many of these ended up in the waste along the way, and how long he pursued this project! But he kept at it…until voila! He made it!!

Whenever he would make this kugel, he’d make an extra and we’d drop one off at another friend that we knew would appreciate this. Leah’s family was on this list. It would become a joke among the team of how if you want one, you gotta join the wait list!

The BCP team asked us to feature it here on the site, because we always do want to bring you the best of the Basics. I cannot say it was easy getting me to convince my husband to share the recipe, but at the thought of having it enhance another Yid’s Shabbos table, he was all for it.

So here it is. The best authentic Yerushalmi Kugel.

Yerushalmi Kugel, sliced, on a plate. Israeli pickles on another plate.

Why have Yerushalmi Kugel on Shabbos?

Kugel comes from the word “Ke-ugal,” (which means round, as this kugel is traditionally baked in), indicative of the round shape of the man that we ate in the desert.

And why lokshen? Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz (in Galicia) claimed that lokshen kugel itself symbolizes Jewish unity, since the noodles are all tangled together and are really inseparable, just like the unified Jewish people.

Ingredients for Yerushalmi Kugel. 4 eggs in a carton, 1 (12 oz) bag fine egg noodles, ¾ cup oil in a pyrex glass measuring cup, 1 ⅛ cups sugar in a bowl, salt, black pepper, cinnamon and a jar of red schug.

First prepare the pasta according to package instructions. Put it aside in a bowl (metal preferably)

Then we need to caramelize the sugar in oil. Heat a stainless steel pot, add the oil and then the sugar. Do not stir it much, watch it until it turns a golden color and the sugar dissolves.

Mixing oil and sugar that became a deeply golden color - in a pot with a wooden spoon.

See this color? Nice, deeply golden. It’ll take about 5-8 minutes to get to this point, but watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn!

Pouring deeply golden oil and sugar into a metal bowl with cooked fine egg noodles.

Quickly pour over your prepared pasta, (TIP: Keep the hot water running in the sink and immediately let the water run on the pot for an easy rinse, otherwise the mixture dries and its hard to clean off later. )

Mixing deeply golden oil and sugar with cooked fine egg noodles in a metal bowl with a wooden spoon.

And mix to combine well.

Adding spices to cooked fine egg noodles mixed with deeply golden oil and sugar in a metal bowl.

Add your spices.

Stirring eggs with cooked fine egg noodles mixed with deeply golden oil and sugar plus spices in a metal bowl with a wooden spoon.

Then stir in the eggs.

Adding a tbsp of red schug to cooked fine egg noodles mixed with deeply golden oil and sugar plus spices and eggs in a metal bowl with a wooden spoon.

And, finally, that heaping spoon of schug for the right touch of heat.

Traditionally, Yerushalmi Kugel was baked in a parchment lined deep pot. We use round tin foils instead here, but it might be worth a try in a pot.

Pouring Yerushalmi Kugel mixture from a metal bowl into a round aluminum pan, with a wooden spoon.

Pour it into a deep 9″ round pan or 2 8″ shallower round pans .

Pouring Yerushalmi Kugel mixture from a metal bowl into a second round aluminum pan, with a wooden spoon. Two round aluminum pans with Yerushalmi Kugel mixture on a kitchen counter.

Now we’re ready to bake!

Two round aluminum pans with Yerushalmi Kugel mixture on a kitchen counter.

Get ready for lukshen perfection!

The yerushalmi kugel freezes really well. Once it is baked, let cool and then cover really well with heavy duty foil and freeze. To rewarm, just reheat on 200 in the oven.

Closeup of Yerushalmi Kugel, sliced, on a plate.

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