American Goulash

Method

1. sear7 min
   medium-high, browned in patches
   beef flat and undisturbed before crumbling, fat drained to a tablespoon — the paprika later can season meat, but it cannot brown it; only this step can
2. sweat5 min
   medium
   + onion + bell pepper until soft, garlic for the last thirty seconds — the pepper is the goulash tell; without it this is just beefy tomato pasta
3. toast1 min
   medium, off the boil
   + paprika + oregano + tomato paste stirred dry against the meat for thirty seconds — paprika scorches fast but blooms beautifully; this half-minute is the Hungarian ancestor's one surviving gene
4. simmer15 min
   medium-low, lid on, stirring twice
   + tomatoes + stock + soy sauce + bay + salt + pepper, then the raw macaroni straight in — the pasta drinks the sauce as it cooks, trading starch for flavor in both directions; this exchange is the whole argument for one-pot
5. rest8 min
   lid on, off heat
   off the heat, covered — the pasta finishes in the residual heat and the sauce thickens from loose to spoon-clinging; goulash eaten straight off the flame is soup, eaten after the rest it is supper