Pepper tokány

Hungarian cooking:

As mentioned before, I worked in Hungary off and on for several years, and some of my favorite recipes come from their cuisine. The gravy created by mixing all the wonderful ingredients below is simply out of this world. Make sure you cook it long enough so that the gravy thickens (see the final photo below).

Pörkölt versus Tokány

Pörkölt is a traditional Hungarian beef stew made with paprika. Tokány is a Transylvanian variety of pörkölt made without paprika. You could easily make the same dish below with a tablespoon of paprika if you prefer pörkölt. But the paprika will change the taste and I suggest starting out with tokány.

Ingredients (5 servings):

• 1 pound – smoked bacon, chopped
• 2 large – onions, sliced into strips (see photo)
• 1.5 pounds – lean top round beef cut into strips (see photo)
• 2 tablespoons – pepper
• 1 cup – water
• 1 cup – dry white wine (e.g., chardonnay)
• 3 – tomatoes, sliced (see photo)
• 1 – green pepper, sliced into strips (see photo)
• 1 – bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons – salt
• 2 tablespoons – flour

Top round lean beef

Beef and onions cut into strips

Tomatoes and green pepper sliced

Preparation:

Place the bacon in a frying pan and cook on medium high for about 10 minutes stirring periodically. Add the onions and cook until they start to become soft (about 10 minutes). Continue stirring. Mix in the beef and pepper (scrape the brown bits from the bacon off the bottom of the frying pan while stirring).

Bacon, onions, beef, and pepper in frying pan

Cook another 10 minutes and then transfer the mixture to a large Dutch oven (large cooking pot). Add the water, wine, tomatoes, green pepper, bay leaf, and salt and cook over medium heat until the liquid thickens (about 20 to 30 minutes).

The tokány just before the flour is added

Whisk in the flour and cook until the sauce develops the consistency of gravy (see photo). This will vary with time but the thicker the gravy, the better it tastes in my opinion. You can serve the stew over rice, potatoes, or pasta. I prefer rice. Enjoy!

Pepper tokány with rice

J. Botticelli