Jókai Bean Soup (Jókai-bableves) — Smoked Pork and Tejföl Bean Soup

• 500 gdried speckled beans (Hungarian tarkabab, cranberry beans, or borlotti beans)
• 1.5 lcold water for soaking
• 1100 gsmoked pork hock (rinsed)
• 3 lcold water
• 2 leafbay leaves
• 10black peppercorns
• 1large yellow onion (peeled and left whole)
• 4 clovegarlic (lightly crushed)
• 2carrots (peeled and sliced 1 cm thick)
• 2parsley roots (peeled and sliced 1 cm thick)
• 200 gceleriac (peeled and diced 1.5 cm)
• 200 gsmoked Csabai sausage (sliced 5 mm thick)
• 8 gfine sea salt
• 30 gpork lard
• 35 gall-purpose flour
• 18 gsweet Hungarian paprika
• 1eggs
• 15 mlwater
• 240 gsour cream (tejföl, 20 percent fat if available)
• 15 mlwhite wine vinegar
• 8 sprigflat-leaf parsley (finely chopped)

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the dried beans under cold running water and place them in a large bowl with 1.5 l cold water. Soak for 8 hours at room temperature, then drain and rinse again so the soup cooks evenly and tastes clean.

2. 2

   Put the soaked beans, smoked pork hock, 3 l cold water, bay leaves, peppercorns, whole onion, and garlic into a heavy soup pot. Bring slowly to a boil over medium heat, skim the foam for 5 minutes, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 75 minutes.

3. 3

   Add the carrots, parsley roots, celeriac, sliced Csabai sausage, and 8 g fine sea salt to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes, keeping the liquid just bubbling, until the beans are creamy inside and the root vegetables are tender but still hold their shape.

4. 4

   While the soup simmers, make the csipetke noodles by mixing 120 g flour, 1 egg, 2 g salt, and 15 ml water into a stiff dough. Knead for 2 minutes, rest for 10 minutes, then pinch off pea-sized pieces onto a lightly floured plate.

5. 5

   Make the Hungarian paprika roux by melting the lard in a small saucepan over medium heat and stirring in 35 g flour. Cook for 3 minutes until pale gold, pull the pan off the heat, stir in the sweet Hungarian paprika, then whisk in 120 ml cold water to prevent scorching.

6. 6

   Ladle 250 ml hot soup broth into the roux and whisk until smooth, then pour the mixture back into the pot. This thickening method is traditional for Jókai-bableves and gives a rounded paprika flavor without turning the soup into a paprikás stew.

7. 7

   Add the pinched csipetke noodles to the simmering soup and cook for 10 minutes. Stir gently twice during this time so the noodles stay separate and the beans do not break down excessively.

8. 8

   Lift out the pork hock, remove the skin, bone, and large pieces of fat, then cut the tender meat into bite-sized pieces and return it to the soup. Discard the whole onion and bay leaves, because their flavor has already been released into the broth.

9. 9

   Whisk the tejföl with 150 ml hot broth in a bowl until smooth, then stir it back into the pot over low heat. Add the white wine vinegar and simmer for 2 minutes without boiling hard, which keeps the sour cream silky and brightens the smoky beans.

10. 10

    Rest the soup off the heat for 10 minutes before serving so the paprika, smoke, and sour cream settle into one flavor. Ladle into deep bowls and finish each portion with chopped parsley and an extra spoon of tejföl if desired, measuring 20 g per bowl.