Pörkölt and Turoshchusa
12 servings
120 minutes
Pörkölt and túrós csusza are the quintessence of Hungarian cuisine, combining rich meat aromas and a delicate creamy texture. Pörkölt, aromatic stewed meat, is cooked in a fragrant mix of paprika, garlic, and spices, gaining deep flavor from slow simmering in wine sauce. Túrós csusza is the perfect companion, featuring wide noodles topped with a mixture of cottage cheese, cracklings, and sour cream that adds tenderness and a slight tang to the dish. This duo pays homage to Hungary's gastronomic traditions where simple ingredients transform into culinary masterpieces. It is perfect for a cozy family dinner or for exploring Hungary's rich heritage. It can be served with potatoes or noodles to create a hearty and warming dish that leaves unforgettable impressions.
1
Finely chop the onion and bell pepper. Throw small pieces of fat into a saucepan and keep on low heat for twenty to thirty minutes until a crust forms. The resulting cracklings will be used as a side dish, and the meat will be stewed in the rendered fat.
- White onion: 2 heads
- Bell pepper: 2 pieces
- Salo (cured pork fat): 150 g
2
Cut the veal into cubes about three by five centimeters. Instead of veal, you can use any other meat or offal for pörkölt: beef, pork, chicken, liver, and even tripe.
- Veal: 3 kg
3
Pour the fat from the cracklings into the onion and pepper. A good piece of fat should yield enough fat to soak the onion. If necessary, you can add vegetable oil. Fry until the onion becomes transparent. Then add the chopped meat to the pan.
- Salo (cured pork fat): 150 g
- White onion: 2 heads
- Veal: 3 kg
- Salt: to taste
4
Finely chop and add two cloves of garlic to the meat. Season with black and white pepper and cumin to taste. Mix thoroughly.
- Garlic: 2 cloves
- Caraway: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Ground red pepper: to taste
5
Add three tablespoons of paprika paste to the meat (in Hungary, it is sold ready-made in tubes, but to make it yourself, you can blend dry ground paprika with vegetable oil).
- Pepper paste (biber salcasi): 3 tablespoons
6
Cook the meat for one and a half hours. Ten minutes before it's done, pour in a glass of wine. The wine should not be too aromatic so it doesn't overpower the taste of the meat and pepper. Boil pasta in salted water. For turoshchus, homemade wide noodles cut into five-centimeter strips are usually used. You can buy something similar, like Gold-Ei Landnudeln, as a substitute.
- Dry red wine: 1 glass
- Wide noodles: 350 g
- Salt: to taste
7
Add cracklings to the pasta. Mix the cottage cheese with sour cream (preferably 15% fat, but less is fine). Add the cottage cheese mixture along with the cracklings and mix everything well.
- Salo (cured pork fat): 150 g
- Curd cheese (tvorog): 400 g
- Sour cream: 230 g
8
Place the pörkölt on one half of the plate and the túrós csusza on the other. Pasta can be replaced with another hearty side like boiled potatoes.