Goulash

Name: Goulash
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 lb beef chuck (cut in 1-inch cubes, patted dry); 2 tbsp lard; 2 unit onion (finely diced); 2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika; 1 tsp caraway seed (crushed); 2 clove garlic (minced); 1 l water; 1 unit bay leaf; 1 unit tomato (chopped); 1 unit bell pepper (seeded, sliced); 2 unit potato (peeled, cut in 1-inch chunks); 1 ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper (ground)

Soups & Sauces · Eastern European & Slavic

13 ingredients · 150 minutes · 2 servings

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818kcal52.6g protein40.6g fat62.3g carbs~$4.13/ serving*

only in an optional ingredient: gluten, dairy, egg

Restrictions

Only if you add itgluten (flour) · dairy (cream, sour) · egg (eggs)Leave that ingredient out and the dish does not have it.

Diets

No alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

1 lb	beef chuck (cut in 1-inch cubes, patted dry)
2 tbsp	lard
2 unit	onion (finely diced)
2 tbsp	sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp	caraway seed (crushed)
2 clove	garlic (minced)
1 l	water
1 unit	bay leaf
1 unit	tomato (chopped)
1 unit	bell pepper (seeded, sliced)
2 unit	potato (peeled, cut in 1-inch chunks)
1 ½ tsp	salt
½ tsp	black pepper (ground)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

¼ tsp	hot paprika or cayenne
2 tbsp	sour cream
1 tsp	vinegar
⅓ cup	flour (for csipetke, pinched noodles)
1 unit	egg (for csipetke)

Steps

Sear8 min
high, lard, one uncrowded layer
- lard
beef cubes in half the lard, in two batches, turning only once each side has released from the metal — dry surface and space are the whole trick, because a crowded pan traps the water the meat gives up and you braise it gray before it can brown. Set the meat aside; keep the browned fond in the pot
Sweat18 min
medium-low, remaining lard
- onion
+ onion, stirring occasionally, until it goes translucent, then slumps, then turns pale gold and jammy — this is not a garnish, it is the thickener; goulash has no roux and the onion has to dissolve entirely into the broth later
Temper1 min
OFF the heat, pot rested 30 seconds
- garlic
pull the pot off the burner and let it cool a moment, then stir in paprika + caraway + garlic until the fat runs red. Paprika is mostly sugar and carotenoid; above roughly 150°C those sugars scorch in under a minute and the whole pot turns permanently, irreversibly bitter. Off-heat fat is hot enough to bloom the color and volatiles and too cool to burn them
Deglaze2 min
return to medium
+ a cup of the water at once, scraping the fond up — the liquid also drops the pan temperature instantly and ends the paprika's exposure to direct heat
Braise90 min
bare simmer, lid ajar
- bay leaf
- black pepper
+ seared beef and its resting juices + remaining water + bay leaf + salt + black pepper. Hold it just below a bubble; a rolling boil squeezes the collagen shell tight and drives the meat past tender into stringy before it has time to turn to gelatin
Simmer22 min
gentle, uncovered
+ potato + bell pepper, then tomato only once the potato edges have begun to soften — tomato acid sets pectin in potato cell walls, so early tomato leaves you with chunks that stay hard no matter how long they cook. The potato starch leaching out now is what gives the broth its slight cling
Rest10 min
off heat, covered
pull the bay leaf, taste for salt, and let it sit — the paprika oil separated on top settles back in and the broth reads rounder than it did straight off the flame = goulash