What are German Nocken?
Picture is of "Nocken" garnishing carrot soup. German Nocken are small dumplings made from dough to be used in soups or as a side dish. They can be round, but a popular form is long with three sides, or triangular. This form comes from the method of making them using two spoons. A recipe for soup "Nocken" using cream cheese and bread crumbs (seen in following images) is here. Sometimes the word "Nocken", or "Nockerl" is used to mean the triangular form, itself.
The method of forming a pointed, triangular "Nocken" is the same, the bowl of the spoon is used to shape the food. This can be seen in this Yogurt Mousse recipe and Salzburger Nockerln recipe.
Begin By Heating the Water for Nocken
"Nocken" are related to Italian gnocchi, "Schupfnudeln" and "Klöse" or "Knödel" in that they are made with semolina, potato or flour-based doughs, bound with egg and cooked in water. Water for "Nocken should be just barely boiling, so that the fragile dough does not break apart. Like gnocchi, a good "Nocken" is light and airy in the mouth.
Using a Teaspoon Grab some Dough
"Nocken" dough is sticky, but holds its shape. It is very close to the consistency of a drop cookie dough like oatmeal cookies. Place your bowl of dough conveniently next to the stove and dip in. Trial and error will tell you how big you need to make them. For soup, a bit under a tablespoon is good. You will need two teaspoons, one for each hand. I'm right-handed, so I place the bowl to the right of the stove and start with my right hand spoon.
If you are making dessert "Nocken" you will form them with larger spoons to achieve a larger, triangular shape. Since pudding does not need to be cooked through to the middle (as do soup "Nocken"), they can be as large as you want or as large as you can handle.
Hold Spoons in a Straight Line
Holding the right hand spoon with the dough parallel to your body and over the hot water, approach with the left hand spoon and "cup" the dough, pressing the bowl of the spoon into the dough a bit and scooping the dough onto the left spoon. Flip the left spoon over so the dough does not fall prematurely into the water.
Reverse the Procedure
Now scoop the dough from the left hand teaspoon to the right teaspoon. If you press into the dough as before, you will start to see an egg shape or a triangular shape emerge. Continue two or three more passes to achieve a pointed dumpling.
The picture shows a dumpling that has been pressed into a long, triangular pyramid and is ready for the hot water. Use the empty teaspoon to gently plop it in. Make the "Nocken" in batches of 10 to 15 dumplings depending on how fast your technique is. Do not crowd them in the pan. Dumplings of this size take 3 - 5 minutes to cook. When a batch has been floating for a few minutes, remove with a slotted spoon to drain.
Keep them warm until serving.
Here is my attempt to playfully garnish the Cream of Carrot Soup for Easter dinner. If you squint, you can see that there is a rabbit face on the cream made of lemon zest and the magic rabbit feet are really "Nocken"! Guten Appetit!
Picture is of "Nocken" garnishing carrot soup. German Nocken are small dumplings made from dough to be used in soups or as a side dish. They can be round, but a popular form is long with three sides, or triangular. This form comes from the method of making them using two spoons. A recipe for soup "Nocken" using cream cheese and bread crumbs (seen in following images) is here. Sometimes the word "Nocken", or "Nockerl" is used to mean the triangular form, itself.
The method of forming a pointed, triangular "Nocken" is the same, the bowl of the spoon is used to shape the food. This can be seen in this Yogurt Mousse recipe and Salzburger Nockerln recipe.
Begin By Heating the Water for Nocken
"Nocken" are related to Italian gnocchi, "Schupfnudeln" and "Klöse" or "Knödel" in that they are made with semolina, potato or flour-based doughs, bound with egg and cooked in water. Water for "Nocken should be just barely boiling, so that the fragile dough does not break apart. Like gnocchi, a good "Nocken" is light and airy in the mouth.
Using a Teaspoon Grab some Dough
"Nocken" dough is sticky, but holds its shape. It is very close to the consistency of a drop cookie dough like oatmeal cookies. Place your bowl of dough conveniently next to the stove and dip in. Trial and error will tell you how big you need to make them. For soup, a bit under a tablespoon is good. You will need two teaspoons, one for each hand. I'm right-handed, so I place the bowl to the right of the stove and start with my right hand spoon.
If you are making dessert "Nocken" you will form them with larger spoons to achieve a larger, triangular shape. Since pudding does not need to be cooked through to the middle (as do soup "Nocken"), they can be as large as you want or as large as you can handle.
Hold Spoons in a Straight Line
Holding the right hand spoon with the dough parallel to your body and over the hot water, approach with the left hand spoon and "cup" the dough, pressing the bowl of the spoon into the dough a bit and scooping the dough onto the left spoon. Flip the left spoon over so the dough does not fall prematurely into the water.
Reverse the Procedure
Now scoop the dough from the left hand teaspoon to the right teaspoon. If you press into the dough as before, you will start to see an egg shape or a triangular shape emerge. Continue two or three more passes to achieve a pointed dumpling.
The picture shows a dumpling that has been pressed into a long, triangular pyramid and is ready for the hot water. Use the empty teaspoon to gently plop it in. Make the "Nocken" in batches of 10 to 15 dumplings depending on how fast your technique is. Do not crowd them in the pan. Dumplings of this size take 3 - 5 minutes to cook. When a batch has been floating for a few minutes, remove with a slotted spoon to drain.
Keep them warm until serving.
Here is my attempt to playfully garnish the Cream of Carrot Soup for Easter dinner. If you squint, you can see that there is a rabbit face on the cream made of lemon zest and the magic rabbit feet are really "Nocken"! Guten Appetit!
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