Yapchik is the trusted staple, traditional and nostalgic and difficult to get right...unless, of course, we’ve done the work for you. Here are the best of the best. While you may still have to do the grating, you no longer have to do the digging.

Yummy Yapchik

Submitted by Rochel Abraham

Detroit, Michigan

I love putting my own twist on the recipes I cook. So I spent a few weeks experimenting on yapchik and finally found the perfect method. It’s delicious! I serve it to my family on Thursday night and Friday afternoon, along with my original cholent. I give out both recipes regularly to friends.

• ¾ cup oil
• 2 medium onions
• 1 large zucchini
• 5 lbs (2¼ kg) potatoes
• 1 pkg (1kg) English flanken
• 8 eggs
• 1 Tbsp salt
• dash black pepper

Preheat oven to 500°F (260°C). Place the oil in a large pan  and heat in the oven while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Place the onions, zucchini, and half the potatoes into the food processor fitted with the S blade. Blend well. Pour into the pan of hot oil.

Shred the other half of the potatoes and add to the mixture in the pan. Add the meat and mix well so the meat is evenly distributed. Add the eggs, salt, and pepper and mix well.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 500°F (260°C), then reduce heat to 240°F (115°C), cover the pan, and continue baking overnight (or at least a few hours). Enjoy... worth the calories.

Family-Tradition Yapchik

Submitted by Brocha Rubenstein

Ramat Eshkol, Jerusalem

For us, yapchik is a family tradition at least three generations old. My grandmother, Mrs. Chana Kuhnreich, brought this recipe with her from Poland, and my mother serves it every Friday night. She always makes it in her orange Le Creuset pot — both to enhance the flavor and so we’ll know which pot not to touch without oven mitts! If you don’t have a distinctive pot, be sure to make to mark it in some way so everyone knows that it’s hot!

• ½ cup oil
• ½ lb (450-g) flanken or bone-in meat
• 1 large onion
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 10 red potatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400°C (200°C).

Pour the oil into an ovenproof pot and place the pot in the oven to heat as you prepare the potato mixture.

Place the onion in a food processor and slice with the S blade. Add eggs, salt, and pepper. Switch to the shredding blade and grate the potatoes.

Remove the pot from the oven. Add the meat and brown it on all sides. Add the potato-onion mixture and the chicken broth. Stir and return to the oven. Lower oven heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for 1½ hours. Lower oven heat to 275°F (135°C) and bake for an additional 3–5 hours. It should be golden in color. Enjoy!

Pulled Beef Yapchik

Rochel I., Jackson, NJ

When I tasted a piece of yapchik and bit into a thick chunk of meat, I knew there had to be a better version. Melt-in-your-mouth pulled beef was the craze back then, so I figured, why not try it out? The results were out of this world!

Pulled Beef

• 1 2-lb (1-kg) brisket
• ¾ 16-oz (450-g) jar Bone Suckin’ Sauce

Potato Kugel

• 12 Idaho potatoes, peeled
• 1 large onion
• 5 eggs
• ¾ cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 2½ tsp salt

To make the pulled beef: Preheat oven to 350˚F (175°C). Place brisket in a 9x13-inch (20x30-cm) baking pan. Pour Bone Suckin’ Sauce over it and cover tightly. Bake for 3–4 hours until very soft. Remove meat from pan and shred using two forks. Return shredded meat to pan. Mix with sauce and set aside.

To make the potato kugel: Preheat oven to 375˚F (190°C). Grate potatoes and onion. Mix with eggs, oil, water, and salt. Pour half the potato mixture into a greased 9x13-inch (20x30-cm) pan. Place a thick layer of pulled beef over the kugel. Pour the remaining potato mixture over the meat layer. Bake for 2½ hours, until golden brown.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 724)