Home recipe kuchnia polska

Pork Goulash

Name: Pork Goulash
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 115 min
Total time: 140 min
Cuisine: kuchnia polska
Ingredients: 800 g pork shoulder without bone (or ham, or half ham and half neck meat); ½ tsp salt (at the beginning, the rest to taste at the end); ½ tsp ground black pepper; 50 g lard (about 3 tablespoons, can be replaced with oil); 250 g onion (2 medium, cut into feathers halved); 3 cloves garlic (pressed through a garlic press or chopped); 400 g red bell pepper (2 medium; one can be yellow or orange); 200 g carrot (1 large, in half slices); 200 g mushrooms (not necessary, sliced); 1½ tbsp sweet paprika powder; hot paprika or chili (a pinch, more to taste); 2 pcs bay leaves; 3 pcs allspice berries (whole); 400 ml meat or vegetable broth (hot); 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp potato flour (flat, not necessarily, mixed with 3–4 tablespoons of cold water)

Homemade goulash made from pork shoulder stewed with onions, red bell peppers, carrots, and sweet paprika, served with buckwheat, potatoes, or dumplings. This explains how Polish goulash differs from Hungarian gulyás, how to thicken the sauce, and what cut of meat to buy abroad.

Servings: 4 servings
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h 55 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Difficulty: Easy

Gulasz wieprzowy w czerwonym sosie paprykowym z puree ziemniaczanym i dwoma ogórkami kiszonymi na talerzu

The story behind the recipe

In Poland, goulash refers to a thick stew made from meat, usually pork, with onions and peppers, sometimes with mushrooms, carrots, or bacon. Polonist, a service about Polish cuisine from Warsaw, writes that "goulash" is a general term for a stew made from meat or vegetables. According to the same source, the first Polish recipes were close to the Hungarian original, but over time they evolved into a stew thickened with flour, and around the 1950s, the pork version became synonymous with a cheap, simple meal from bars, canteens, and roadside diners. When exactly goulash made its way into Polish cookbooks is not certain.

The name comes from Hungarian: "gulya" means a herd of cattle, and "gulyás" is the shepherd who drives them, and the dish also originated from shepherds. However, in Hungary, gulyás is a soup (gulyásleves): beef or lamb, onions, peppers, cumin, potatoes, carrots, and small dumplings called csipetke. Polish goulash is closer to the Hungarian pörkölt, which is a thick stew that can also be made with pork (sertéspörkölt). English Wikipedia emphasizes that Hungarian stews, apart from paprikás, are not thickened with flour or roux, and tomatoes are rarely added, as the red color comes from the paprika itself. The Polish version with tomato paste and potato flour is therefore our own variation. "Magyar gulyásleves" has been part of the Hungarian collection of hungaricums since December 2017.

Goulash also has its regional Polish varieties. Since May 7, 2020, "gulasz czorsztyński" from Pieniny has been on the List of Traditional Products: lamb or pork meat stewed with white and pickled cabbage, roux, and hot pepper, mixed with kopytka (Polish potato dumplings). The entry connects its name with Czorsztyn, a guard post on the former Polish-Hungarian border, and with the trade route from Buda to Krakow. According to the entry, it was already cooked there in the 1950s and 60s. In homes, pork goulash is served with buckwheat or barley groats, potatoes, kopytka, or Silesian dumplings, and a large potato pancake topped with goulash is called a Hungarian pancake.

Ingredients

Meat

800 g pork shoulder without bone (or ham, or half ham and half neck meat)
Abroad: pork shoulder or pork butt (Boston butt); Germany: Schweineschulter or Schweinebug; Austria: Schulter; neck meat: Schweinenacken, Schweinekamm, Halsgrat, in Austria Schopf
½ tsp (about 3 g) salt (at the beginning, the rest to taste at the end)
½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground black pepper
50 g lard (about 3 tablespoons, can be replaced with oil)
Abroad: lard or canola oil; Germany: Schweineschmalz

Vegetables

250 g onion (2 medium, cut into feathers halved)
3 cloves garlic (pressed through a garlic press or chopped)
400 g red bell pepper (2 medium; one can be yellow or orange)
Abroad: red bell pepper; Germany: rote Paprika
200 g carrot (1 large, in half slices)
200 g mushrooms (not necessary, sliced)
Abroad: white button mushrooms or chestnut mushrooms

Sauce and Spices

1½ tbsp (22.5 ml) sweet paprika powder
Abroad: sweet paprika
hot paprika or chili (a pinch, more to taste)
Abroad: hot paprika or chili powder
2 pcs bay leaves
Abroad: bay leaves
3 pcs allspice berries (whole)
Abroad: allspice berries
400 ml meat or vegetable broth (hot)
Abroad: chicken, beef or vegetable stock
2 tbsp (30 ml) tomato paste
Abroad: USA and Canada: tomato paste; UK: double concentrate tomato purée; Germany: Tomatenmark
1 tbsp (about 9.5 g) potato flour (flat, not necessarily, mixed with 3–4 tablespoons of cold water)
Abroad: potato starch; Germany: Kartoffelstärke; or cornstarch

Method, step by step

Rinse the pork shoulder, dry it, and cut it into equal bite-sized pieces, no larger than 2×2 cm (¾×¾ inch). Trim off larger pieces of fat and membrane, but not all, as a bit of fat protects the goulash from drying out.
Prepare the vegetables: cut the onion into feathers and halve them, press the garlic through a garlic press, slice the carrot into half-moons, clean the pepper from the seeds and cut it into strips or pieces, and slice the mushrooms.
In a wide, heavy pot, heat half of the lard. Add the onion, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for a moment longer.
Increase the heat to high, add the meat, season with salt and pepper, and gradually brown it, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are browned on all sides. They may still be raw inside; they will cook through during stewing.
Stir in the sweet and hot paprika, add the bay leaves and allspice, and sauté for 1–2 minutes, stirring. Pour in the hot broth, scrape the browned bits from the bottom, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat so the goulash barely bubbles, and simmer for about an hour.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the remaining lard. Sauté the carrot for about 15 minutes over slightly lower than medium heat, uncovered, then add the pepper (and mushrooms) and sauté for another 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Transfer the vegetables to the pot with the meat, add the tomato paste, and mix. Simmer covered for another 30 minutes until the meat is tender and can be easily cut with a spoon. If the sauce evaporates too much, add a little broth or water.
If the sauce is too thin, mix the potato flour with cold water and pour it into the gently bubbling goulash, stirring immediately. After about a minute, turn off the heat: the sauce will thicken and become glossy. Remove the bay leaves, taste, and season with salt, pepper, or chili.
Serve hot with buckwheat or barley, with potatoes, kopytka, or Silesian dumplings, with pickled cucumber or coleslaw.

Tips

What meat to use. Ania Gotuje believes that the best goulash comes from pork shoulder. You can also use just ham for a leaner goulash, or mix ham with neck meat half and half. Kwestia Smaku makes goulash from shoulder or ham. Polonist warns that shoulder and ham are quite lean and may turn out dry, so they add bacon. Neck meat is fattier, and goulash from it is heavier, but then you can skip the bacon.

Cutting uniform pieces. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, ideally equal, up to 2×2 cm (¾×¾ inch) according to Ania Gotuje or about 1.5 cm (½ inch) according to Kwestia Smaku. Uniform pieces will soften at the same time.

Paprika powder. Kwestia Smaku adds sweet and hot paprika to the browned meat and fries it for a few minutes before pouring in the liquid. Ania Gotuje mixes the meat with paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic before frying. Both methods are good.

Sauce too thin or too thick. Tomato paste thickens the goulash, while purée or fresh peeled tomatoes give a thinner sauce (Ania Gotuje). If the sauce is too thin, pour a flat tablespoon of potato flour mixed with a few tablespoons of water into the gently bubbling goulash and turn off the heat after about a minute: the sauce will thicken and become glossy. Kwestia Smaku and Polonist sift a tablespoon of potato flour and a tablespoon of wheat flour directly into the pot and bring to a boil.

Too mild. Taste the goulash at the end and season: more salt, pepper, or chili if it should be spicier (Ania Gotuje).

Variations. Kwestia Smaku adds 200 g (7 oz) of lean bacon and 200 g (7 oz) of mushrooms, and instead of some broth, pours in 500 ml (2 cups) of wheat beer or cider. Polonist adds beer to the goulash, seasons with smoked paprika and marjoram, and beer can be replaced with broth. Ania Gotuje's grandmother used a lot of garlic, did not use paprika powder, and instead of paste, she evaporated peeled tomatoes. You can replace the onion with a large leek, and one red pepper with a yellow or orange one.

In the oven and slow cooker. Polonist simmers the goulash covered in a cast-iron pot in an oven preheated to 160°C (325°F) for about 2.5 hours, or in a slow cooker on low for 7–8 hours.

What to serve with. With buckwheat, barley, or potato dumplings, with potatoes, purée, kopytka, Silesian dumplings, or pyzy, and simplest with a slice of bread. Serve with pickled cucumber, coleslaw from white or red cabbage, salad with sour cream, or beets. Goulash on a large potato pancake is a Hungarian pancake.

Storage. Polonist advises eating goulash within 4 hours of serving, and quickly cooling leftovers and keeping them in the fridge in a closed container for about 3 days. Goulash freezes well, best eaten within 3 months. Thaw completely and reheat in a pan or pot over medium heat, stirring often, for about 10–12 minutes until heated through. If it is too thick and sticks, add a little water or broth.

Gluten-free. Thicken only with potato flour or cornstarch, without wheat flour (Polonist), and check the broth's ingredients.

Abroad. Pork shoulder is called pork shoulder in English, and its upper part is pork butt, or Boston butt. Note: spare rib roast or spare rib joint also refers to shoulder (blade shoulder), not ribs. In Germany, shoulder is Schweineschulter or Schweinebug, in Austria Schulter, and neck meat is Schweinenacken, Schweinekamm, or Halsgrat, in Austria Schopf. Ham refers to pork leg or ham, in the sense of raw meat from the thigh. Lard can be replaced with lard or oil (canola, olive oil), potato flour with potato starch, in Germany Kartoffelstärke, or cornstarch. Tomato paste is tomato paste, in the UK double concentrate tomato purée, in Germany Tomatenmark. Sweet paprika is sweet paprika, hot paprika or chili powder.

Photos

Gulasz wieprzowy z kaszą na białym talerzu, widok z góry

Węgierska zupa gulyásleves z wołowiną, ziemniakami, marchewką i kluseczkami w białym talerzu, dla porównania z polskim gulaszem

Meat dishes Polish cuisine Substitutes abroad

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