RCP: Authentic Hungarian Goulash (Gulyás)

Authentic Hungarian Goulash (Gulyás)
Ingredients

• 750mL (3 cups) chicken stock
• 1.5 80 g tubes of genuine Hungarian goulash paste, such as Univer Red Gold (piros arany), available on Amazon but I bet you can find it at any eastern European market for less.
• 75 g (3 oz.) tomato paste
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) skin-on chicken thighs diced into 25mm (1 inch) cubes
• 500 g (1.1 lbs.) potatoes, peeled and diced into 25mm (1 inch) cubes
• 500 g (1.1 lbs.) red bell peppers, seeded and diced into 10mm (⅓ inch) wide stripes.
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 50 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a large (5 L / qt.) pot bring to the boil approx. 150 ml (½ cup) of the stock.

Add all goulash paste, slowly mixing into the stock so all is dissolved and then mix in all the tomato paste, stir in the remaining 600 ml (2½ cups) of stock and bring to the boil.

Gradually add all the meat, onion, bay leaves and olive oil, and bring to the boil gently stirring. Simmer on medium to low for about 45 minutes with the lid on.

Add potatoes and bell pepper, and gently simmer uncoverefor a further 30 – 60 minutes so the sauce thickens, stirring only occasionally.

Serve over a bed of rice or spiral / penne pasta and have a glass of genuine Hungarian "bulls blood" (Egri Bikavér) red wine on the side.


This version is relatively healthy, the versions we had at the markets were much meatier and oily, so feel free to trade off the potatoes for more chicken, add oil, or make it with pork shoulder instead. It’s also relatively mild, so you could add some spicy paprika, cayenne pepper, or Aleppo pepper to spice it up.

[Jenise]

I have never had chicken in a goulash before; in fact, where's the dividing line between goulash and paprikash if you make it with chicken? Sounds delicious either way. I like the inclusion of the peppers, btw. A friend of mine named Laszlo (of course) always included the fresh peppers, both red and green.

Thanks for posting this recipe.

While researching online recipes to make Goulash it seemed that any that allowed reader comments had a comment (or two) from a Hungarian national, and in one case a Hungarian Chef, saying the the recipe wasn't authentic because it included, or didn't include various items.

I got the feeling that there were as many authentic Hungarian goulash recipes as there are Hungarian grandmothers and mothers.

[Jenise]

Peter, you're exactly right.

I think gulyas is to Hungary what cassoulet is to France and chili is to the USA. Everyone has their own recipe and they argue endlessly about it.

-Paul W.

I agree with all of you. I had never seen caraway seeds in a goulash before, but for Jenise they're obligatory. Hungary is not a big country, physically, so it's amazing the diversity in just the one dish. I have seen Hungarians argue online about whether liquid red pepper paste or paprika is the true way to make Hungarian food. The fresh bell peppers really make a difference, the color is just electrically red and the whole house smells good. Interestingly, it didn't seem to improve the next day. At the Christmas markets we greedily slurped up the goulash from the cauldrons, and they didn't have paprikash, so I don't know. I tend to think of paprikash as a cream sauce, served over spiral noodles, whereas goulash is more like a stew, possibly not served over anything, but that's from my experience in the US.

[Jenise]

I tend to think of paprikash as a cream sauce, served over spiral noodles, whereas goulash is more like a stew, possibly not served over anything, but that's from my experience in the US.

And I've never had paprikash as a cream sauce, though sour cream dolloped on top was a standard augmentation offered by our Hungarian friend Ildiko. Also, a topping on my Hungarian stepmother Elizabet's cabbage rolls, so that seems to be a Hungarian thing. But back to your point, the lack of cream in my experience kinda supports why this recipe looks like a paprikash to me.

I tend to think of paprikash as a cream sauce, served over spiral noodles, whereas goulash is more like a stew, possibly not served over anything, but that's from my experience in the US.

And I've never had paprikash as a cream sauce, though sour cream dolloped on top was a standard augmentation offered by our Hungarian friend Ildiko. Also, a topping on my Hungarian stepmother Elizabet's cabbage rolls, so that seems to be a Hungarian thing. But back to your point, the lack of cream in my experience kinda supports why this recipe looks like a paprikash to me.

The stew thickens, Univer itself has a recipe for goulash. The ingredients are:

• 1.5 kg boned shin beef (I Googled and I think this is the meat of the shank)
• 2 large onions
• 6-7 tbsp oil or 80-100 g fat,
• 1 heaped tsp Univer garlic paste,
• half tsp cumin seeds
• 1.5-2 tbsp good quality paprika
• salt
• 2 medium green peppers (sweet, not hot) or tomatoes,
• 1 tsp Univer Red Gold (Piros Arany) spicy or Erős Pista,
• 3 tsp Univer Goulash Paste mild
• 4-5 carrots,
• 2-3 parsley roots,
• 2-2.2 kg potatoes

For the Hungarian pinched noodles:

• 100 g plain flour
• 1 egg

Two things: 1, that's over a half pound of potatoes per person. Talk about filling! 2, there is almost nothing in common with what I posted, except for potatoes, onion, and Univer Goulash paste. Fascinating. I may make this one as well.

And more and more... https://www.wineberserkers.com/content/?s=goulash

...all by Martin Zwick !

Yes, his "Berlin Kitchen" thread is good reading: https://www.wineberserkers.com/content/?cat=160