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Latvian Bacon Buns

A Latvian bread roll filled with bacon and onion, baked with a glaze.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Latvian Bacon Buns

Oven400°F
Time13–18 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Dice or chop all filling ingredients.

  2. Saute the filling in a frying pan over low heat until about half the fat has melted (15–30 minutes).

  3. Drain off all but about a tablespoon of the melted fat.

  4. Season with pepper and salt, and allow to cool.

Make the dough

  1. Heat the milk until a thin skin starts to form. Remove from heat, add butter, salt, and sugar. Let cool until lukewarm.

  2. Put the yeast in the quarter cup of warm water. Wait until it starts to bubble up. Add it to the lukewarm milk mixture. Also add the beaten egg.

  3. Add about 1 ½ cups flour and beat until smooth. Add the rest of the flour about a half cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. If desired, add sour cream after all the flour has been added.

  4. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or towel and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare a floured surface for kneading.

  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead lightly for 5–6 minutes until the dough is smooth, but still somewhat soft.

  6. Grease a large bowl. Put dough into the bowl and turn it until all surfaces have been greased. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (30–90 minutes).

Shape and bake

  1. Punch the dough down. Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Prepare a floured surface for making piragi. Take the meat filling out of the fridge. Mix together all the glaze ingredients.

  2. Cut off a large piece of dough. Roll it into a rope about 1½–2 inches in diameter. Cut it into segments about 1½ inches thick. Shape each segment into a small pancake, oval or square.

  3. Place a teaspoonful of filling on one half of each pancake. Fold the dough over, pinching the edges together to seal the seam.

  4. Place the finished buns on an ungreased cookie sheet, pinched seams underneath. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk.

  5. Brush the buns with the glaze. Bake at 400 °F for 13–18 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool a bit and enjoy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1268Calories
76 gProtein
44 gFat
138 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Meat + hamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bacon
Renders fat that flavours the filling and adds savoury, salty richness.
White flour
Forms gluten that gives the dough its structure and chewy crumb.
Yeast
Ferments sugars to produce gas that makes the dough rise.
Egg
Adds structure, richness and moisture to the dough, and gloss when brushed on.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderises the dough and gives a richer flavour.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk sugars that help the dough brown and feel soft.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until doubled. Yeast needs a warm, adequately long rise to build gas and structure; under-proofed dough bakes dense, while over-proofed dough can collapse and lose its shape.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, ham, pepper, milk, butter, sugar, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, ham, pepper, milk, butter, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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