So a couple weeks back, Tamas and I had the pleasure of inviting Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen over, along with her husband Scott and their two boys, Andrew and Nathan for a nice weekend meal.
We had just met a few weeks earlier, and so we wanted to break bread with them and get to know each other a little better.
Breaking bread in my little family nowadays invariably consists of us making this amazing Hungarian pork stew recipe because it travels well if we’re visiting, and basically every person we have ever met loves it, kids included.
Whenever Tamas and I say to someone, “You can come over and we’ll cook for you,” we always have this dish in mind.
Video of How to Make Hungarian Nokedli / Noodles (recipe at the bottom):
Video of How to make the Hungarian Pork Stew (recipe at the bottom):
So when I say this is amazing, I have never spoken truer words, and if you have time to make this, you will NOT be disappointed.
It is comfort food to the max – the “get into your pj’s and curl up with a bowlful in front of your favorite Netflix romantic drama on a cold, winter night” kind of comfort food.
Yeah. It’s serious stuff.
I remember when Tamas first made this for me. We were venturing into cooking his favorite meals from back home that he just couldn’t live without, and I remember him on the phone with his Mom for like hours, learning exactly how to get this one right.
When I started this blog, I knew that one day I would post this recipe proudly, knowing that I’d be paying homage to hubby’s roots and his mother Eva’s amazing cooking all at the same time.
Which is why I’ve decided to name this dish Parrag’s Hungarian Pork Stew, officially, because it really is a family gem.
This is best served over Hungarian Nokedli, which is homemade pasta, so I am giving the recipes for both (plus videos above, obviously). You can use something like egg noodles, but that would definitely hinder the amazingness effect. I do NOT recommend that option.
Parrag’s Hungarian Pork Stew and Hungarian Nokedli Recipe
Serves: about a million people. Okay, definitely enough for 8, maybe with leftovers! So cut this recipe in half for less and you can save time on the preparation too, because making this much does take us quite a bit of time. But we LOVE the leftovers!
For the Stew
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
- 8 medium yellow onions, chopped to medium dice
- 1/3 cup canola/vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- 9 3/4-inch thick boneless center cut loin pork chops, trimmed of fat, sliced in half length-wise, pounded 1/4 inch thin (if you’re lucky enough to find the thin loin chops, you’ll only have to pound them thin)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- flour for dredging
- 3 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
- 6-8 cups water, or enough to fully immerse all ingredients in the pot
- Vegeta to taste, approximately 1 tablespoon (but if you can’t find it, just use vegetable/chicken soup seasoning packets) 1 cup sour cream
DIRECTIONS
- In a large pot (6 qt) over medium to medium-high heat, add onions and canola oil. Saute onions until they are translucent, but not browned. Add more oil when necessary to keep them slick in the process. When the onions have finished cooking, turn down heat to low, add paprika to mixture and stir to mix well.
- While the onions are cooking, season each side of the pork slices generously with salt and pepper. Dredge the slices in flour on each side.
- In a frying pan over medium-high to high heat, heat about an inch of canola or vegetable oil. Fry each slice of pork until just barely golden brown around the edges, about 1-2 minutes, flipping halfway through. If they are thin enough, this will be enough to cook them fully. Lay them between sheets of paper towel on a plate to catch excess oil.
- Cut each of the pork slices in half and place them back in the pot with the onions. Add enough water to the pot to cover the pork and onions. Cover pot and simmer on medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
- When the stew is thickened up a bit from the flour and the onions are starting to disappear, it is ready for the final seasoning. Add salt, pepper and Vegeta seasoning to taste. Add sour cream and stir until the stew is a rich, thick consistency.
For the Nokedli Pasta
INGREDIENTS
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water large pot filled halfway with salted, boiling water
DIRECTIONS
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs and flour and a bit of the water. Stir until the consistency is like a very dry dough. Add water gradually, and stir between each addition to ensure no lumps have formed. You’re going for pancake batter consistency and if you do it slowly gradually like this, there will be hardly any lumps!
- Using a nokedli maker, drop the batter on top and push it through into the pot of boiling water. It will sink initially. When the batter floats to the surface, about 30 seconds, it has finished cooking. With a slotted spoon, scoop out the pasta and place in a large bowl. Add a bit of canola oil and stir once all the pasta is finished to prevent it from sticking together.
Note: If you don’t have a nokedli maker and want to buy one, here is a nokedli maker I found on Amazon*. Other ways to get the job done are to push the batter through a colander, a cheese grater or even a potato ricer! Or watch my video above for a traditional German method used by my family to make spaetzle. Serve the stew on top of a mound of homemade nokedli and weep with joy. Now you can be sure – Hungarians are geniuses in the kitchen!
Also – please comment back here to let me know how you like the recipe after you’ve tried making it!
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That was a very good post! The stew for sure is very delicious. I like also how you describe everything in the videos.
Sadly, I don’t know of any really comforting comfort food from my mom.
Thank you so much for your comment, Chris! You can use this recipe as a surrogate. ;)
I found your recipe via Pinterest and it looked so good, I had to try it. I didn’t have a Nokedli maker so I used a large colander instead. It turned out perfectly! The noodles were a perfect accompaniment to the pork stew. The stew was so flavorful and the pork was nice and tender. This was perfect comfort food! Thank you so much for the recipe, we’ll definitely be making it again.
Kris — thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how you liked it! I even read your comment to my husband and he was so happy that you loved it! :D Enjoy!
I am Hungarian decent and my Husband was born in Budapest. So I’ve learned and cook a lot of Hungarian food. I love how this recipe is simple and true to Hungarian cooking. Love your nokedli recipe as well, and the link to amazon to buy the tool. As my tool just broke i will be ordering a new one. Would love to see more Hungarian recipes. :)
Thank you Rosemary!! When you try it out, let me know what you think! :D
Thanks for the recipe! I made it yesterday and we loved it. We usually love gulash and I could see this had the potential to become another favourite. The nodkeli came out perfect thanks to your video.
Greetings from Spain.
Oh hey! I made this tonight and it was really good. My husband liked it too! He said the noodles reminded him of the ones he gets when he is in Germany. Very tasty dish. : )
Cheri, I loved your recipe.
I make the noodles to go with my Chicken Paprika also and I would love to have the exact tool that you use in your video. It looks so much better than any other I’ve seen. Do you have a source where one like that could be purchased?
OH MY!
I just made it and it´s amazing!!!
May I translate your recipe to spanish please? please???
Thank you so much, Miss Vinagre — absolutely! :D
Hi Kayelle! Well, I did actually do quite a bit of searching for that particular one, and couldn’t find it anywhere online. My mother-in-law brought it over from Hungary for me, so I don’t think you could get it anywhere but there. However, I did include a link in the post to one that is similar. Or you could always just use a colander. Good luck!
Made this tonight along side my 71 year old hungarian mother in law… Turned out perfect! She said to me when we were making this that it was bringing back so many memories for her of her childhood…. Great job great recipe and we were sopping up the sauce with a French baguette. Kudos for learning traditions and keeping our loved ones heritages alive…
So glad to hear this Chrissy. It warms my heart to hear about your MIL. (I sop up pretty much everything with French baguette :)
Cheri love your site have you thought about a membership for your site? You bring so much to the table why not make a few bucks?
I have Glen! Not sure I’m ready for it just yet, but I am considering it!
Made this recipe 2x already….just delicious! Thanks for posting it..it has become a real favorite of mine!
I am SO glad to hear that Suzi, thank you for stopping by!!
Looking for Hungarian recipes for pork I defrosted last night. My old hungarian cookbook is at our country home. I found your recipe and will try it today. My daughter is coming to dinner tonight and lives comfort food.
Steve
Yay! I am so happy, Steve and I guarantee you will totally love this one. Probably too much!! :D
Today is probably the 4th time I have made your recipe! It is perfection and makes for fantastic freezer meals for days when too tired or busy to cook.
I made a double batch and made myself a whole bunch of meals for later!
Thank you so much for posting this,,,probably my favorite meal!
Hi Cheri,
Where did you learn the recipe of the famous Hungarian nokedli? :)
Regards,
Gabor
My ex-husband, Gabor! :D
Well we have just come back from 5 days in Budapest. Of course we ate very well – lot’s of Gulash and different paprika stews, but both my wife and daughter kept saying that I had spoiled them with this (your) recipe for pork stew and knokedli!
So by popular demand I am making it tonight as my daughter heads back to university in Scotland tomorrow (we live in Spain).
Thank you Cheri for this wonderful recipe that works every time!
xx
Ahhh Martin!! You have no idea how happy this makes me that I was able to contribute to such a family favorite. It really means so much to me and thank you for taking the time to let me know. :) Yes, this recipe is a family specialty…and aren’t those ones always the best?? Best of luck to your daughter as she goes back to school!! <3
It was wonderful, made even better by the amazing sweet Hungarian paprika we brought back and real Vegeta!!
I have to tell you I went into a mini-market and said to the woman “Do you have Vegeta?” and she and all of the staff burst out laughing!
I said “what’s so funny?” and she said “An English person asking for Vegeta, we have never heard that!”
So there you have it Cheri, you have touched lives in Spain and back in Hungary!
Thanks again
xx
Ahhh hahah Martin, I love that story! I can just picture her! :D And I’m so glad that you told me all about it. You’re more than welcome. xoxo!!
Since some of my family members do not eat pork, could I do the same thing with thin chicken breasts? Love your videos and the detail explanations. Thank you.
Ya know what I’m not sure Kathleen, but I promise you it is worth a try! Might want to start with half a recipe just to make sure at first! <3 Let me know how it goes!
Love your recipes! My mom was Hungarian,I enjoy making HungArian dishes!
YAY Marlene! I’m so glad — Hungarian food is SOOO delish!! :D