Hungarian Jókai Bean Soup  – Jókai Bableves

Hungarian Jokai bean soup, Jokai bableves
Hungarian Jókai bean soup is one of the most popular comfort foods in Hungary. It was named after our famous Hungarian writer Mór Jókai, because he was a big fan of this soup. A slowly cooked soup with smoked meat, beans, vegetables and noodles – a satisfying soup for cold days.

Cooking time: 2 hours
Serves 4

Ingredients:
200 grams (7 ounces) of dried pinto beans (soaked overnight)
150 grams (5.3 ounces) of smoked uncooked pork (trotters, neck) – cubed into ½ inch cubes
2 bay leaves
10 black pepper corns
5 cloves of garlic
2 medium carrots – peeled and cut into ¼ inch slices
1 medium parsley root or parsnip – peeled and cut into ¼ inch slices
100 grams (3.5 ounces) of smoked paprika sausage – cut into ¼ inch slices
Vegetable oil (sunflower)
2 heaping tablespoons of plain flour
1 good teaspoon of sweet paprika powder
Salt to taste
Sour cream
For the Csipetke pinched noodles
1 egg – beaten *(the amount of dough you can make with one egg is enough for a recipe for 12 people. I always use only about 1/3rd of one beaten egg.)
Pinch of salt
All purpose flour – as much as necessary to create a nice soft dough

Jokai bean soup ingredients

Directions:

Soak the beans overnight.

In a large soup pot cook the cubed smoked pork with the peppercorns, 4 cloves of garlic and bay leaves in 3 liters of water until the meat is half tender.

Pour off the soaking water and add the beans to the broth. Cover and cook until the beans are almost tender.

Csipetke (pinched noodles) can be cooked directly in the soup broth, or in plain water. It is a great accompaniment for this soup. Their name comes from the way they are formed.

In a medium bowl mix together the egg, the salt and the flour, and knead with your fingertips until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small pieces of dough about the size of a lemon seed and roll them.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes. You can use it immediately if you are in a hurry.

When the beans are almost tender, add the carrot and parsley root slices, the celery root cubes, and the sausage slices. You also add the pinched noodles. When you add the noodles, stir the soup otherwise the noodles will stick together. Cover with the lid, bring back to a boil, reduce the heat and keep cooking until the vegetables are tender. Add salt if necessary.

Roux (to thicken your soup): Heat oil in a pan; add 2 tablespoons of flour, stirring constantly. You need just enough oil to make the consistency of your roux not too thick and not too thin. It should spread out in your pan and bubble a little.
After 2-3 minutes of searing, when it starts to brown, take it off the heat, add 1 clove of minced garlic and stir. Allow to cool and add 1 teaspoon of red paprika powder. Now add some water (or liquid from the soup or cold water) to the roux to thin it. Pour this mixture back to your soup pot and bring the soup back to a boil.

Serve with sour cream.

Enjoy!