Hungarian Gulasch Soup

One of the best things about knowing lot's of people from all over the world is that they can teach you how to cook their countries specialities. In this case, a good friend of my mom, who is Hungarian, taught us how to make the original Gulasch Soup from scratch! This recipe will definitely be treasured in one of my many recipe note-books for the rest of my life. I love soup. I love spicy soup. I love soup with vegetables and meat. What better soup than Gulasch?!




Ingredients


(serves 8 people)

• 1kg beef ragout meat, cut into 1,5cm cubes
• 2 large carrots, peeled, diced into 1cm cubes
• 4 potatoes, peeled, diced into 1cm cubes
• 4 peppers (red or yellow), diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 knob of celery, peeled, dices into 1cm cubes
• 4 celery stalks, peeled, diced into 1cm cubes
• 6 medium onions, peeled, blended
• 1 whole garlic, peeled, blended
• 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
• 1,5 tablespoons tomato paste (from tube)
• 2 tablespoons red paprika powder
• 1/2 tablespoon Gochugaru/red hot korean chilli powder (optional)
• salt
• pepper
• beef stock
• vegetable oil
• water, water, water

Preparation

Prepare the meat and vegetables including garlic and onion as listed above.

Heat a large soup pot on high heat with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot add the onions and stir until glossy and soft. Add the garlic and cummin seeds and stir once again until garlic and onions become softer. Now add 2 tablespoons of paprika powder, 1,5 tablespoons of tomato paste and the gochugaru (if using). Give everything a good stir.

Add the diced meat to the onion mixture, lower heat to medium and stir occasionally. The meat will release some juice after a few minutes, so don't worry if the mixture looks dry in the beginning. Stir to prevent from sticking to the bottom. Let everything simmer until the juice has reduced to half. Now add 2dl water and wait for it to reduce again. Repeat this step for 1 hour. Occasionally stiring. This procedure will help tenderize the meat so that it will literally melt on your tongue.

After 1 hour have a taste of the meat to see if it is tender enough. If not, let it simmer longer.

Now pour in some water (about 700ml) so that all the meat is covered, sprinkle 2-3 teaspoon of beef stock into the soup, add the diced carrots and diced celery knob and simmer over medium-low heat for 2 hours.

After 2 hours of simmering, add the potatoes and peppers into the soup. Add more water to cover all the vegetables completely. Simmer once again. About 15 minutes before serving, mix in the celery stalks and bring everything to a boil over high heat. Gind in some freshly ground pepper and add some salt if needed. Try the soup to see if the taste suits you. Slice some pieces of fresh bread and dig in! Yum...