Königsberger Meatballs

This dish, which originated in East Prussia, has been a cult favourite in Germany for a long time.
A light sauce with capers, cooked meatballs and spicy anchovies give this meal just the right taste.

Ingredients:

500 g mixed minced meat
125 ml milk
1 roll
2 onions
1 egg
1 tbsp capers
3 - 4 anchovy fillets
1 tbsp butter
Pepper
nutmeg

The water for the meatballs:

2 litres of water
1 onion
2 bay leaves
3 cloves
5 juniper berries
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black peppercorns

For the caper sauce:

400 ml cooking water from the meatballs
150 ml cream
30 g butter
30 g flour
60 g capers
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch of sugar
Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Preparation:

Cut the bun (preferably from the lecture) into small cubes and soak in the milk.
After 10 minutes, take out the bun and squeeze it well.
Peel and chop the onion into small cubes, then place in a large bowl, add the bun cubes and mix both well.

Remove the capers from the jar, take out the pickled anchovy fillets and chop them finely. Add to the bun mixture together with the minced meat, egg and seasoning. Mix the mince well and then use about 50g of mince per meatball and shape it into rounds, repeat until the mince is empty.

For the meatball stock, fill a saucepan with 2 litres of water. Peel onion and add whole to the pot with all the other spices. Bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat. Only put the meatballs into the water when it is no longer boiling, but only hot. Use a skimmer to lift the meatballs into the water and leave them to simmer for 20 minutes. If necessary, use a wooden spoon to loosen the meatballs from the bottom.

Take 400 ml of the cooking water as a base for the sauce.
Heat 30 g butter in a new pan and stir in 30 g flour with a whisk to make a roux. Slowly add the 400 ml cooking water first and then the 150 ml cream. Bring the sauce to the boil so that it thickens again a little.

Add the 60 g capers to the sauce and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, sugar, lemon juice and a little caper stock. Lift the meatballs out of the water and put them into the sauce.
Divide directly onto the plates and serve best with boiled potatoes.

If you like it hot, you can add a certain kick to the meat balls with these chilli powders: