Ahh, the sweet smell of karjalanpiirakka. Today we’re talking about a traditional Finnish food, veganized.

After hoping on a plane from North Carolina to Europe, and spending some time with my lovely Finnish friend and her family, I came back with many pictures, memories, and history knowledge. And to top it all off, I returned with an awesome new recipe tucked away. What is that that awesome recipe, you may ask? No worries, we’ll talk about it. I’m all about sharing the love. We made a traditional Finnish food together called “karjalanpiirakka”, which is a Karelian pastry.

Now, the answer to that question may have led you to some new questions, such as:

Where does it come from?

How do you pronounce that, or should I even attempt to?

Is it worth trying?

Is it suitable for me if I’m vegan?

Let me break it all down for you, and start off by saying, yes, it is suitable for vegans! And no, I am not sure you’ll be able to pronounce it.

If you would make the food in the “traditional” way, you would be using eggs from chickens and milk made for baby cows. But, we’ve updated the recipe to be cruelty-free and oh-so-tasty. There are so many reasons to live vegan and eat a plant-based diet, so if you’re looking for more enlightenment on that, check out this section of my blog.

Let’s get cooking!

In addition to tasting new foods, I also like to know a little bit more about what I’m consuming, so we did a brief food history lesson. Here’s what I learned:

These foods don’t have a specific time that they are eaten, like mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. They’re really to be eaten at any time… and I could definitely chow a few down at any given time,  no questions asked.  My friend Sara did suggest, though, that these would be perfect to eat on their afternoon coffee break in Finland (that is required by law) when working.

Vegan Karjalanpiirakka
Traditional Finnish food, Karjalanpiirakka

She also shared with me that this food was from a time when people didn’t have much, so it was helpful that they were simple to make, as only a few different basic ingredients are needed. Although they have a couple different parts to the cooking process, these pastries are easy to make… and delicious.

This is what they’re made of:

Porridge

  • 200 ml water
  • 200 ml rice (sushi rice preferably)
  • 1 liter plant based milk
  • Salt to taste

Shell: 

  • 200 ml cold water
  • 250 ml all-purpose flour
  • 250 ml rye flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp canola oil (optional)

Here’s what to do:

Rice Porridge

  1. Bring water to a boil and add the rice. Continue cooking until water has been absorbed.
  2. Add the milk in small portions at a time. Avoid adding more before it has all been absorbed.
  3. Wait about 35-40 minutes and let the porridge cool.

Pasty Shell

  1. Add salt into the water. Next, begin to add the flour- adding 50 g at a time. (Grandma’s secret: add about 1 tbsp of canola oil to give the dough a nice texture)
  2. Knead to a workable, smooth dough.
  3. Divide the dough into four portions and roll each portion to a stick shape. Remember to keep the rest of the dough covered as you are working on each section.
  4. Divide the stick of dough into 4-5 pieces. On a floured surface, roll the dough into thin disc shapes. As you do this, the most important thing to remember is that the shells need to be very thin, and big enough to be folded while still containing the porridge. A 5-inch diameter is optimal.
  1. Spoon the porridge on top of the discs, using about 2 tbsp per pastry. Fold the edges into the center and crimp them.
  2. Get ready to watch em cook! Set your oven to about 482-527°F. Place the pasties on a baking tray and pop em’ in the oven. Let bake until the porridge has a nice brown color. Set the pastries aside to cool. (If you can wait!)

  7. Enjoy!

Vegan Karjalanpiirakka

8. Share Your Creation And Finland Travels!

Trying new plant-based foods in Finland was a fun way for me to connect with the culture through one of my own passions. Be sure to share your favorite culture experiences in the Roam Rhino app! Roam Rhino is a new type of travel app that celebrates unique identities by giving users a place to share their travels through a platform that nourishes diversity. It allows travelers to seek and leverage different perspectives to discover new experiences and find content that resonates. Check out my highlight of Finland on Roam Rhino, and then download the app to follow me @unruly_traveller for more vegan food adventures!

Thank you, Sara, for all of your help with creating this wonderful food, experience to share, and article. Credit for the top image goes to Sara Engblom. 

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