Segedínsky Guláš

Ingredients

• 800 g pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes
• 100 g smoked bacon, finely diced
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
• 600 g sauerkraut, drained with 100 ml juice kept back
• 500 ml pork or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 250 ml sour cream
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Before you cook

• Cut the pork shoulder into 3 cm cubes and pat them dry.
• Dice the bacon finely and chop the onions.
• Crush the caraway seeds in a mortar.
• Drain the sauerkraut, keeping 100 ml of the juice in a cup.

Steps

1. Fry the diced bacon in a heavy casserole over medium heat for 6 minutes, until the fat has run out and the pieces are golden.
2. Turn the heat to high and brown the pork cubes in the bacon fat in two batches, about 5 minutes each, then set them aside.
3. Lower the heat to medium and cook the chopped onions in the same pot for 10 minutes, until they collapse and turn deep gold.
4. Stir in the crushed garlic and the caraway and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the paprika, turning it through the fat for 20 seconds so it blooms without scorching.
6. Return the pork to the pot and pour in the stock and the reserved sauerkraut juice.
7. Bring the pot to a simmer, cover it and cook gently for 50 minutes.
8. Add the drained sauerkraut, the bay leaf and the sugar, then stir everything together.
9. Simmer uncovered for a further 30 minutes, until the pork pulls apart under a fork and the liquid has reduced by a third.
10. Whisk the flour into the sour cream in a bowl until completely smooth.
11. Loosen the cream with two ladlefuls of the hot stew liquid, whisking as you go.
12. Pour the loosened cream back into the pot and stir it through.
13. Simmer for 5 minutes more, then taste and adjust the salt, pepper and sugar until the stew is sour, sweet and savoury in balance.
14. Take the pot off the heat and serve with bread dumplings or boiled potatoes.