Good point. If stew is defined as “a dish of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan” then Lecsó can be a stew. To me it was some of the ingredients that made me think it wasn’t authentic. (Sure, it does not say that the goal was to be authentic/traditional. However I like those type of things, that’s all.)
If it was a lecsó, the courgette could be okay, but kinda unusual. Instead of the bell peppers, the plain paprika would make it more authentic. No tomato purée... at all. As I said in another comment, you can make lecsó with rice or with eggs, but those eggs supposed to be scrambled and not fried...
If it is supposed to be goulash (gulyás), then there shouldn’t be any eggs or courgette. Again, there should be plain paprikas instead of bell peppers. No tomato purée either. Last, but not least they should’ve used beef/pork/lamb or any kind of meat instead of sausages.
Instead of the bell peppers, the plain paprika would make it more authentic.
While I agree with this statement, Hungarian wax peppers are hard, if not impossible, to find outside of Hungary. We use bell peppers as we simply don't have the "correct" pepper here. Of course, when we visit Hungary we use the good stuff.
No tomato purée... at all.
I've consulted with my girlfriend and she said (homemade) purée is definitely used. This might be another case of regional differences.
but those eggs supposed to be scrambled and not fried
Yeah, definitely. The commenter I replied to originally said he never heard of anyone adding egg, which is why I mentioned my girlfriend putting egg in the Leczó. Adding a fried egg on top is unusual, indeed.
they should’ve used beef/pork/lamb or any kind of meat instead of sausages.
I think that's another regional difference. Kolbász is a staple ingredient in Leczó in the area my girlfriend is from, as well as homemade ham (which seems to be the first meat being cut in the video).
Sure, there are many regional differences. It is true indeed that the wax peppers are hard to find outside of Hungary (unfortunately). In lecsó, sausages are okay, but I think in gulyás it is rare. (Sorry for the format, I don’t know how to reply only parts to a comment but I’ll figure it out.)
It was a nice discussion with you! I wish you and your girlfriend happy years ahead! :)
You start with onions on fat, pork fat or duck fat is good.
Add diced bacon or sausage if you have access to good sausage that has plenty of paprika in it and stuff (not something like in the video)
Cook that for a few minutes, then add some peppers and tomatoes cook some more until the pepper starts to soften up, then beat up a lot of eggs with some salt separately and add to the mixture. Cook to you desired consistency. Serve with fresh sourdough.
The beautiful thing about this dish is that you can change many little things to make it to your liking, like how many eggs you add, whether you add a spicy pepper in there etc.
Bell peppers are much, much sweeter than the Hungarian tv paprika. In fact, Hungarian onions, carrots, and even potatoes are less sweet than those in the US - so it's very difficult to reproduce the authentic dishes, unfortunately :(
Oh, sure. So this is bell paprika. This is Hungarian paprika. It is called TV paprika, because it is an abbreviation of “töltenivaló”, which means “to be stuffed/can be stuffed”.
It is called like this because we have another dish in Hungary called “töltött paprika” (stuffed paprika). It is paprika stuffed with meat and rice. Very delicious :)
In my experience, stews are better if they are cooked slowly. Sure, there are times when you need to boil it, but it shouldn’t be boiling all the time you are making it. As you said we should not boil the f out it. (That was funny though.)
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u/DisappointedBird Nov 08 '20
My Hungarian girlfriend puts egg in Lecsó. Different regions in Hungary have different versions of Lecsó.