Husleves ~ Hungarian Pork Soup for Food of the World

This month Food of the World is traveling to Hungary. Hungarian food is based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fresh breads and cheese. Some of the food is spicy and common spice is Hungarian hot paprika. This cuisine has many stews / soups prepared with meats and fish.

When I first did a research on this cuisine for this event, I was fixated on fish stew or soup, also called Fisherman’s soup or Halaszle. I almost decided to make this soup but the thought of preparing fish broth at home, to be more precise cooking the fish head put me off.

I then looked at the most popular stew of the cuisine, goulash which is prepared with meat, vegetables & spices. The stew preparation was time consuming and I then considered the popular stuffed crepes called palacsinta.

Later I found a pressure cooker husleves recipe and finalized the recipe. Husleves is a thin clear soup made with either chicken, pork or beef. I made it with pork. Husleves is served with cooked dumpling or pasta. The meat & vegetables used to prepare the soup can be served with soup in the same bowl or separately. I did not have Hungarian peppers on hand and used a ripe red cherry pepper which is spicy but sweet when ripe.

Adapted from: Zsuzsa is in the Kitchen
Total Time: 1 hour
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 - 40 minutes

Ingredients:

Pork Shank (I used 1 lb pork ribs and 1 lb stew bones)
1 medium Onion, peeled & diced
3 small - medium sized Carrots, peeled
2 small - medium sized Parsnips, peeled
2 Celery Stalks
Fresh Parsley (I used Cilantro)
1 Ripe Red Cherry Pepper, diced and slightly seeded (my addition)
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp. Peppercorns
3 tsp. Sea Salt
⅓ - ½ cup Pasta or Dumplings (check note below)

Preparation:

Trim the fat of the pork ribs and bones. Wash and place in a pressure cooker. I used 6 ½ liters, Indian pressure cooker.
Cut carrots, parsnips, celery to 2-3” pieces. Though I cut to smaller pieces, I felt I should have left them as it is or cut each into two pieces.
Remove half the seeds from the cherry peppers and dice it.
Throw in the vegetables and rest of the ingredients except pasta into the pressure cooker.
Add 6 cups of water and pressure cook until pork and vegetables are tender. I pressure cooked on high for 7 whistles, reduced the flame to low and pressure cooked for another 10 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally. It will take about 15 - 20 minutes.
While the pressure is releasing naturally, cook pasta until al dente, following the instructions on the back of the pasta box.
Once the cooker cools and pressure is released, pour the broth through a sieve or colander into another pot. Pick out the pork, carrots, parsnips, celery and keep aside. Discard the rest of the vegetables.
Spoon out the fat from the broth and discard. I find refrigerating the broth and then removing layer of fat from the top the best way to separate the fat or to let the broth cool and then removing the fat. Today, I spooned it out and am not sure if I did a good job of it.
Take broth in a bowl, add cooked pasta or dumplings to broth/soup and serve. Cooked vegetables can also be added to soup or served separately.
Serve cooked meat and vegetables in a separate plate.

Note:

Pasta - While the pressure cooker is cooking, cook pasta until al dente following the instructions on the back of the pasta box. Drain, rinse and keep the pasta aside until ready to serve. I used about ⅓ cup dry farfalle pasta as I was the only one eating it. Husband did not want pasta in his soup.
Broth - This recipe yields approximately 6 - 7 cups of broth. The leftover broth can be refrigerated for couple of days or frozen for later use.
Vegetables - I cut celery, carrots and parsnips into 2-3" pieces. I would suggested leaving them as it is or cutting into only half. Since the broth is cooked for a very long time, vegetables were very soft. I felt I should have used longer pieces.
Stovetop Cooking - If cooking the broth on stovetop, cook pork in water on medium flame removing the scum. Then reduce the flame and cook pork until half cooked. Then add rest of the vegetables and cook until vegetables and pork are tender. This will take about 3-5 hours. I have not cooked it on stovetop and the cooking time is approximate cooking time.

This day in 2013: Liver Curry

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