Székelygulyás (Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash)

[grisell]

A classic Hungarian dish, traditionally served on Christmas Day. Easy to make and inexpensive. The amount of onion is considerable - almost the same in weight as the meat. So is the amount of paprika which is essential to the character. A little hot paprika or chili can be added, but the dish is not supposed to be a chili-hot dish. Pepper is normally not used, only salt.

Ingredients (4 servings)

4-5 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp caraway seeds
4 tbsp mild paprika
1 tsp hot paprika (optional)
2 tsp wheat flour
1 kg boneless pork, in one-inch (2.5 cm) cubes
100 ml water
600 g sauerkraut, drained and shredded but not rinsed
Lard or vegetable oil for frying
Salt, q.s.
Sour cream (for garnish)


Directions

Sautée the onion, garlic and caraway in lard or oil until the onion is transparent.



Add paprika and flour and sautée for one more minute (don't burn the paprika!)



Add meat, water and about 1 tsp salt. Stir, reduce the heat and put a lid on. It may seem very thick now, but the meat will gradually give off a lot of liquid. Let braise for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally.



Add the sauerkraut, stir and let simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until the sauerkraut is soft.



Add salt to taste. Serve hot with boiled potatoes and sour cream.

[mitchamus]

that looks awesome!

[Vindii]

Id hammer that!

[Salzburg]

My wife is of Hungarian background...I have to show her this!

[snagman]

Beautifully cooked Grisell !! A Jó egészségedre !

[Ianinfrance]

Not a lot of people know that in fact the dish is neither a Gulyás nor from Transylvania (Székel).

The story of it's invention is sufficiently typically Hungarian that it's worth telling.

In 1846 the librarian of Pest county came too late to a little restaurant called Zenélö Ora (the musical clock) to be able to choose from the menu. The librarian whose name was Székely (a rather common Hungarian name) asked the owner if he had anything left. "Yes, I've got half a portion of sauerkraut and a bit of pork pörkölt left". So he asked him to serve them both on the same plate.

As it happened, the great poet Petöfi Sándor came in while he was eating this and, being as interested in food as most Hungarians, came across, and grabbing a fork, said "that looks interesting, can I taste?" He was sufficiently impressed with it that next day, he came into the restaurant and said "Can I have that gulyás that Skékely was eating yesterday. This time the restaurateur mixed them both together and tipped over some sour cream and like that it became part of the restaurant's repertoire and thus it was named "Székely's Gulyás".

Nowadays even Transylvanians have forgotten its origin and swear blind it's a traditional Transylvanian (szekel) dish.

Here's a fairly authentically Hungarian recipe.

[grisell]

Wow! Very interesting indeed! I will try Gundel's version and see which one I like best.

Thanks, Ian.