Hungarian smoked ham hock soup with beans (Csülkös bableves)

Lietuviška šio patiekalo versija čia.

The first blog entry is dedicated to this soup, because it's our favorite and it is also a very satisfying dish. If we had to choose only one dish for the rest of our lives - we would without doubt choose this soup. We can eat it for lunch and dinner on the same day, and on the next day... And if we sill have any leftovers - even on the third day... That's why we always make a big pot.
To your attention "Csülkös bableves" soup made by a Hungarian:

Ingredients (for a big pot of soup):

• 250 gr. of speckled beans (if not in a usual store, can be found in specialized Turkish shops)

• 1 smoked ham hock, about 1,5-2 kg (can be found in specialized Hungarian shops)

• About 4 cloves of garlic 
• Ground black pepper 
• 5 small carrots 
• White carrot or parsnip (preferably - carrot) - (can be found in organic food stores) 
• 2-3 laurel leaves 
• 1 medium or two small onions 
• chili powder, 2-3 teaspoons 
• 250 ml of sour cream 
• vinegar, about 4 tablespoons 
• chopped chili pepper (optional) 
• 3 large potatoes 
• 1 tablespoon of oil 
• 2 tablespoons of flour

Pasta ingredients:

• 2 eggs 
• pinch of salt 
• 5-6 tablespoons of flour 
• some water can be added if necessary (1-2 tablespoons)

The mixed mass should look like mashed potatoes - neither too thin nor too firm.

Preparation:

1. The evening before cooking soak the ham hock in a bowl of water.

1. Fill another bowl with water to soak the beans overnight as well. 

1. Next day divide the ham hock into (about) 3 peaces and boil in water (water should cover the ham hock). Cook for about 1 hour on a medium heat until half ready - it must begin to soften (check with fork). 
2. Peel the carrots and cut into slices.
3. Peel and cut the potatoes in half if very large.
4. Peel white carrots(or parsnip), cut lengthwise in half (if you're going to remove it later). If you leave it in the soup for eating - also cut in slices. 
5. When the meat is half ready, squeeze the garlic into the soup, add black pepper, bay leaves, beans, potatoes, chili pepper. Boil together until finished. If meat or potatoes are ready faster than the beans - remove. 
6. Clean the meat from bones, cut into big cubes. Cut the potato into same size cubes.
7. Put carrots in the soup 10-15 minutes before the end of cooking, just before you add the onions. 
8. Take a saucepan, fry the flour in oil, add chopped onions, fry for a few minutes, remove from the heat, add chili powder, sour-cream and some liquid from the soup (4-6 ladles), stir until smooth. 
9. Remove the white carrot from the soup (or leave it if you chose so).
10. When all of the ingredients are soft, add the onion mixture into the soup.
11. If the soup is boiling and everything is ready, you can make pasta. Put all pasta ingredients into a bowl and stir. We've got a special tool, which allows us to make this pasta very quickly. Don't worry if you don't have it. It is easy to do by hand. Hold a bowl with the mixture over a pot of soup. Then, using a spoon let small peaces of dough to fall into the soup. Occasionally dip the spoon into the soup so that the dough wouldn't stick to it. These noodles differ in taste and texture from those you can by in the shop.
12. Put cut potatoes and meat back into the soup. At the end add some vinegar to taste.

Jó étvágyat! :)

Here's how can you make the noodles at home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osICRO1Yhe4

With knife:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7QXpBAvlQg

We have this tool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo02t0lKkeQ
You may want to purchase this tool if you are going to cook Hungarian dishes more often, because they use this kind of pasta quite often.

This soup is really filling. If you want less fats in it, just don't use the skin and underlying fat. Modify to your taste. Although we always get the slightly different taste, it is always delicious and always worth the work it takes.