Things Hungarians are good at: classical music, Rubik's cubes, water polo, and goulash. Hungarian goulash (gulyas) has been around for quite some time. It was first eaten around the 9th century by shepherds--gulyas means "herdsman," and is now a dish that every Hungarian cook has their version of.
You might think that a broth that red would get its color from tomatoes, but the base of this stew is actually paprika--and a lot of it. The stew starts with cooking onions until they're translucent, then taking the pot off the heat before adding the paprika (because if it cooks too much it gets bitter). Normally Hungarian paprika is used, but I just used regular sweet paprika which is basically the same thing.
Next, the vegetables are added. Green pepper is standard, but ther other vegetables can vary depending on tastes and availability. The recipe I used called for carrot, tomato, potato, and parsley root or parsnip. In place of that I used some radishes that I had left over from Denmark.
Bay leaves, black pepper, and water are added and left to simmer. Normally beef would be added and simmered for as long as 2 hours until it's tender. Since I didn't use meat, my cooking time was much shorter. I basically just had to wait for all the veggies to be soft enough.
A special ingredient is then added--ground caraway seed.
Another special ingredient that I hadn't even planned on until I started making this and fully read the recipe is a Hungarian egg noodle/dumpling hybrid called csipetke (which means "little pinch"). The dough requires only three ingredients: egg, salt, and flour. The egg is mixed with salt and enough flour to create a smooth dough. I think I added a bit too much flour, but the recipe I used didn't give an exact amount. It comes together in about a minute, and is then covered and let to rest for about 15 minutes.
Usually tiny amounts of dough are pinched off, then flattened or rolled into small balls. I went with a different approach, since I really didn't have the patience to do that. The recipe I used said to "roll them" so I rolled them into little snakes. I thought I had seen a picture online of them looking kind of like that. I was wrong. When you google csipetke, they are much smaller. But whatever, they taste the same.
After I added my noodle-dumpling thingies, I added the "meat." Since the recipe calls for beef, I went with seitan. Seitan is already cooked when you buy it so you really just need to heat it up. I've found that letting it cook too long in soup makes it a little rubbery.
Once everything was heated through it was ready to eat! The paprika flavor is definitely the star of the show in this dish. It's definitely not your usual bowl of vegetable soup. It's also not even close to what Midwestern Americans call goulash. Wikipedia has a completely different page for that, since it's more of a macaroni casserole with paprika than a stew.
This stew is perfect for colder nights when you want something comforting. At the same time, it didn't feel too heavy, even with all the root vegetables. I think the flavor of the paprika really brightens up the flavor and offers a nice contrast.
Recipes used: Authentic Hungarian Goulash
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