Harcsapaprikás, Wels Catfish Paprikash, Hungarian Tradition

Ingredients

• 800 g fresh skinless wels catfish fillet
• 2 pieces yellow storage onion
• 40 g farmhouse pork lard
• 1 piece sweet Hungarian white pepper (TV paprika)
• 1 piece ripe field-grown round tomato
• 2 cloves white garlic clove
• 2 tbsp Hungarian noble sweet paprika powder (édesnemes)
• 200 g tejföl sour cream 20% fat
• 1 tbsp type 55 wheat flour
• 250 ml natural mineral water
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp standard ground black pepper

Method

1. Cut the wels catfish fillet into large, even cubes of about four centimeters. Place them in a shallow bowl, season lightly with a portion of the fine salt, then chill while you prepare the sauce base.
2. Peel the yellow onions and mince them very finely with a knife so they can melt completely during cooking. Seed the Hungarian white pepper and dice it finely. Blanch the tomato by plunging it into boiling water for thirty seconds, remove the skin, and chop the flesh into small cubes. Peel and finely mince the garlic cloves.
3. Melt the farmhouse pork lard in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan or shallow Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the minced onions and a pinch of salt, then let them sweat very gently for about ten minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, until they are translucent, soft, and very light golden, without browning.
4. Add the diced white pepper, chopped tomato, and minced garlic. Continue cooking over medium heat for five to six minutes, lightly mashing the vegetables with the spoon, until the vegetable liquid evaporates and only a melting mixture remains, starting to sizzle in the fat.
5. It is essential to remove the sauté pan from the heat source. Sprinkle the Hungarian noble sweet paprika over the hot onion and vegetable mixture, then immediately stir for about thirty seconds to dissolve the pigments in the fat without risking burning the spice.
6. Return the sauté pan to medium heat and pour in the natural mineral water. Stir well, bring to a gentle simmer, cover the sauté pan, and simmer over low heat for fifteen minutes. The sauce should thicken and the vegetables should break down to create the traditional Hungarian szaft.
7. Prepare the habarás liaison in a bowl: whisk the sour cream with the wheat flour until smooth and perfectly combined, with absolutely no lumps. Ladle some hot sauce from the sauté pan, slowly pour it into the bowl while whisking vigorously to temper the cream without shocking it, then pour everything back into the sauté pan.
8. Simmer the thickened sauce for two minutes over low heat, stirring gently to cook the flour and thicken the velouté. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with the remaining fine salt and ground black pepper.
9. Gently place the wels catfish pieces directly into the simmering sauce, making sure they are fully submerged. Lower the heat to the minimum, and absolutely do not stir with a spoon to avoid breaking up the fragile fish flesh; instead, give the sauté pan gentle circular movements to distribute the heat.
10. Cover and poach very gently for eight to ten minutes. The fish is perfectly cooked when it becomes a pearlescent, opaque white, and yields under very light pressure.
11. Remove the sauté pan from the heat and let rest uncovered for two minutes. Plate the pieces of wels catfish coated in their creamy red paprika sauce in warm shallow bowls, ideally accompanied by fresh cheese túrós csusza noodles.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

469.6 kcal

Protein

39.74 g

Carbohydrate

9.39 g

Fat

30.56 g

Fibre

2.42 g

Calcium

77.01 mg

Iron

1.32 mg

Magnesium

18.54 mg