Hen Soup

Couple of weeks ago I've shared with you the Hungarian palóc soup together with the related legend. Today, I would like to share with you another typical Hungarian soup with the related legend of course :)

originally uploaded by Nóra

The meat soup is well-known in all over the world, but you can see this view only in Hungary. When the vermicelli are "swimming" in the soup, beside slices of meat and carrot :), I really love this view! It's not only beautiful, but it's also very delicious.

The meat soup is a very important dish in Hungary, you can always find a wide choice of the meat soups in most of the Hungarian restaurants' menus. Commonly, this is the first dish in Hungarian wedding receptions, but certainly just after the aperitif :)

The meat soup in a Hungarian wedding reception :)

originally uploaded by zsoltika

Among the meat soups, I like the hen soup the most. We have a popular hen soup with a special name, called Újházy Hen Soup, you can find it in the menu of most of the Hungarian restaurants too. Újházy hen soup got the name from Ede Újházy, who was a well known actor in the beginning of the 20th century. The legend says that Ede Újházy used to make this soup by himself and one day he revealed his special recipe to the chef in a restaurant, which was one of the most famous in Budapest at that time. At the next occasion, the chef waited for Ede Újházy with the delicious hen soup which he cooked exactly as the recipe given by Újházy. "This soup can restore to health the sick and the healthy can be in bloom from this soup"is what the legend used to say about this soup.

The legend was noted by Gyula Krúdy.

(source)

My Hen soup is a little bit different from the authentic Hungarian Újházy hen soup, because Újházy hen soup consists of more ingredients, for example tomato, mushrooms and green peas.

Ingredients for my hen soup:

• 3 pound hen (or chicken) (parts disjointed, sometimes I like to remove the skin)

• 4 or 5 carrots, whole

• 1 whole parsley root with greens on top

• 1 or 2 onions

• 1 kohlrabi (when in season)

• 2 or 3 ribs of celery

• 2 cloves garlic

• 4 qts. of water

• 1 1/2 Tbls. salt

• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

• slice of savoy cabbage

• little slice of green paprika

Prepare:

1. Wash and clean the hen pieces, and pot in a large pot with water, skimming the scum off when starting soup to boil.

2. Clean and cut up the vegetables.

3. Put all the vegetables and spices in the pot.

4. Cook under a low flame until the hen is soft.

5. Serve with cooked vermicelli.

Bon apetit!


Nóra