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| Type | Stew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Hungary |
| Main ingredients | Meat,paprika,vegetables |
Pörkölt (Hungarian:[ˈpørkølt]) is a meatstew which originates fromHungary, but is eaten throughoutCentral Europe.
Pörkölt is aHungarian stew with boneless meat, paprika, and some vegetables.[1] It should not be confused withgulyás, a stew with more gravy or a soup (using meat with bones, paprika, caraway, vegetables and potato or different tiny dumplings or pasta simmered along with the meat), orpaprikás, which uses only meat, paprika and thick heavy sour cream).Pörkölt, paprikás and gulyás are considered national dishes of Hungary.
There are different pörkölt variations from region to region. In most parts of Hungary, pörkölt is made with beef or pork. The wordpörkölt means 'roasted'. Pörkölt is made ofmeat,onion, and sweetpaprika powder.Tomatoes or tomato paste, green pepper,marjoram, and garlic are common additions to the basic recipe.
If no paprika powder is available, a mild or heatless chili powder is a suitable substitute but may slightly alter the character of the dish.
Any kind ofmeat can be used when making pörkölt. Most common arebeef,lamb,chicken, andpork, but game,tripe andliver can also be used. A variant of pörkölt, calledpacalpörkölt, is prepared usingtripe. Another variation isgombapörkölt, which has mushrooms in it instead of meat.
Much of the quality of a pot of pörkölt is found in the use of the very few ingredients. The spiciness and the taste of thepaprika powder used is very important to the taste.
A simple Hungarian trick for making good pörkölt is first frying the onions in lard or oil, before making anything else. Then set aside the pot and immediately addpaprika powder and the meat and "stir-fry" (this is the origin of the verbpörkölni – 'to roast'). This way the juices are kept inside. Water is added, the same volume as the meat.Pörkölt should besimmered slowly in very littleliquid. Flour should never be used to thicken a Hungarian pörkölt.In Hungary, pörkölt is served withpasta (tészta),tarhonya (big Hungarian pasta grains),galuska, ornokedli as a side dish. Boiled potato is also a common garnish, and pickles may complement the dish.
There is a different style Hungarianpörkölt stew,tokány, aTransylvanian stew that does not emphasize the use ofpaprika as much as thepörkölt in Hungary proper. These are stews using black pepper and kitchen herbs like marjoram for spices instead, often made with mixed meats, vegetables and wild mushrooms, depending on the season and the region.Tokány is often served topped with sour cream, andpuliszka (polenta) or boiled potatoes are served as the side dish.
In theCzech Republic, pörkölt is made with pork, beer, dark bread andcaraway. Often large Czechknedlíkydumplings are served with it. InSlovakia, the dish is calledperkelt and is served withHalušky dumplings.Goulash (Polish:Gulasz) is similar to HungarianPörkölt, and is also popular inPoland, usually being eaten with potatoes.InSlovenia it is called "Golaž" and is served with mashed potato or thick polenta[2]
