Several months ago I received a package from my Aunt in Germany. She sent me “The Hungarian Cookbook” that belonged to my mother. As I flipped through it, I recognized several of my favorite meals that she cooked regularly when I was growing up. I knew I wanted to try making many of the recipes. I put the recipe book in a “safe place” and them promptly forgot where I had stashed it for safe keeping. Can anyone relate? LOL. Well the other day I came across it and decided it was high time to start making some of the recipes I loved and grew up eating.
This meal is easy to make and uses just a few simple ingredients that you most likely have on hand. Pick up a pork shoulder when you see it on sale at the grocery store, a jar of sauerkraut, an onion, and some sour cream, and you have almost everything you need to make this traditional Hungarian favorite meal. Oh and don’t forget the paprika. It just wouldn’t be a Hungarian meal with out paprika!
FUN FACT: Did you know that Hungarians don’t have blood running through their veins? We have paprika instead…LOL.
I love to serve this with a freshly baked loaf of bread. Bread is the perfect mop to soak up all the delectable sauce in your bowl. Learn how easy it is to bake up a beautiful artisanal loaf of French Bread just like this one. It’s easier than you think! And it’s the perfect accompaniment to this Hungarian Pork Goulash.
To make the stew, start by cutting the pork shoulder into 1 inch chunks. This cut of meat is well marbled with fat which gives it great flavor. Just trim off the excess fat.
Add flour, paprika and salt to a large ziplock plastic bag. Seal the bag and toss the chunks of pork in the flour mixture until the meat is coated. Set aside.
Heat oil over medium heat in a large heavy bottom deep pan, such as a dutch oven. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and turn translucent.
Add the pork chunks to the pan and cook until the pork is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally.
Add 2-3 tablespoons water to the pan.
Stir scraping up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan, there’s loads of flavor in those browned bits in the bottom. Plus the browned flour will help to thicken the sauce as it cooks.
Cover the pan, reduce heat to low and cook mixture over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Sauce will thicken as it cooks. Add a couple more tablespoons of water if needed.
Drain the sauerkraut and rinse with cold water.
Press out excess water after rinsing the sauerkraut.
Add the rinsed sauerkraut to the pan, and stir to combine it with the pork.
Pour in 2 cups hot water and stir.
Increase heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the stew is simmering, cover the pan and simmer on low for another 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally until the pork is fork tender. Remove the pan from the heat.
Place sour cream in a mixing bowl.
Add 1½ cups of the hot broth from the pan to the sour cream in the mixing bowl. This process is called “tempering”. Adding a small amount of the hot liquid to the sour cream before adding it to the saucepan will keep the sauce smooth and creamy, preventing it from curdling.
Whisk sour cream and broth together until it’s well combined and creamy.
Stir the sour cream mixture back into the pan and return the pan to low heat.
Cook over low heat for 3-5 minutes until heated through, stirring constantly. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil. Taste and season with additional salt if needed.
FOR BEST RESULTS: Do not allow the sauce to come to a boil. The sour cream may separate if the mixture boils. It will still taste fine, it just won’t look quite as appetizing.
Serve the stew in small bowls with slices of freshly baked bread to mop up the tasty sauce in your bowl.
This Hungarian classic stew is not only easy to make, but it’s delicious too! Rinsing the sauerkraut produces a mild but flavorful stew that everyone will enjoy. Add sour cream and paprika; Hungarian staples in so many traditional recipes, and you get a delectably rich meal. Yes, it takes a little time to make this, but the stove does most the hard work for you. Once you get it going on the stove, an occasional stir is all that’s needed. The house will smell amazing as it simmers away. It even draws my teenager out of his room to ask when dinner will be ready. That’s a small miracle in my house! I encourage you to give this traditional Hungarian recipe a try. It’s lip smackingly good!!!
Szekely Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork shoulder, or pork butt cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp oil
- ½ small onion, diced
- 2-3 tbsp water
- 24 oz sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups hot water
- 1½ ups sour cream
Instructions
- Place chunks of pork in a large ziplock bag.
- Add flour, paprika and salt to the bag. Seal bag and toss chunks of pork in the flour mixture until meat is coated. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottom deep pan, such as a dutch oven, over medium heat.
- Add diced onion, and cook stirring occasionally until onions are soft and turn translucent.
- Add pork chunks and cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons water to the pan and stir scraping up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan.
- Cover pan and cook over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Sauce will thicken as it cooks. Add a little more water if needed.
- Drain sauerkraut and rinse with cold water. Pressing out excess water.
- Add rinsed sauerkraut to the pan, and stir to combine with the pork.
- Pour in 2 cups hot water and stir. Increase heat and bring to a boil, cover pan and simmer on low for another 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally until the pork is fork tender.
- Remove pan from heat.
- Place sour cream in a mixing bowl. Add 1½ cups of the hot broth from the pan to the sour cream in the mixing bowl. Whisk together until well combined and creamy.
- Stir the sour cream back into the pan and return pan to the heat. Cook overflow heat for 2-3 minutes until heated through, stirring constantly. Do not allow mixture to come to a boil.
- Taste and season with additional salt if needed.
- Serve in small bowls with slices of freshly baked bread.
Did You Make This?
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This looks great making it next week