🇭🇺 Hungary
Újházi tyúklevesÚjházi chicken soup
Húsleves made from an old hen, capon or, in some accounts, old rooster with a large amount of vegetables, served with the sliced hen meat, carrots, green peas, mushrooms and fine noodles; named for the actor Ede Újházi.
Origin and history
Újházi tyúkhúsleves is named after the actor Ede Újházi (born 1841), a regular at the Wampetics restaurant, the predecessor of Gundel. Gundel and We Love Budapest say he described the soup he wanted and the kitchen made it. Sources disagree on the bird: Offbeat Budapest says the original used capon, while writer Endre Nagy (via We Love Budapest) speaks of old roosters and Pénzcentrum calls the rooster tale a legend. It is a celebrated festive form of húsleves, served at weddings.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 3 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 45 min
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg3.3 lb old stewing hen or capon, cut up; half a hen or a small chicken also works
- 500 g1.1 lb bone-in beef, optional, for a fuller broth; giblets and marrow bone are also traditional
- 3.5 l3 1/2 quarts cold water
- 12 black peppercorns
- 5 cm2 in fresh ginger, peeled
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 onion, halved, unpeeled for colour
- 2 parsnips, quartered
- 1 kohlrabi, quartered
- 1/2 celeriac (celery root), halved
- 1/2 head cauliflower, florets
- 2 carrots, chunked, for the broth only
- 1 tomato
- 1 Hungarian wax pepper or yellow bell pepper, cored
- 1 bunch parsley, tied together
- 2 tsp salt, adjust at the end
- 3 medium carrots, peeled, julienned, for the garnish
- 100 g2/3 cup green peas
- 125 g4 oz mushrooms, cut in 2.5 cm pieces
- 75 g2 2/3 oz thin noodles (csigatészta or angel hair)
Method
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1. Put the hen (and beef, if using) in a large pot with the cold water. Bring to a boil, skimming the foam.
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2. Add the peppercorns, ginger, garlic, onion, parsnips, kohlrabi, celeriac, cauliflower, broth carrots, tomato, pepper, parsley and salt. Keep at a very gentle simmer, uncovered.
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3. Cook until the hen is completely tender, about 3 hours for an old hen or 1 h 30 min for a regular chicken.
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4. Lift out the hen and discard the cooked vegetables. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot.
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5. Add the julienned carrots to the broth and simmer 20 minutes, until tender.
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6. Add the peas, mushrooms and noodles and cook 10 minutes more.
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7. Meanwhile skin and bone the hen and cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Adjust the salt.
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8. Serve each bowl with a mix of hen, carrots, peas, mushrooms and noodles in the golden broth.
Notes
- The difference from the everyday húsleves page is the old hen (or capon) and the garnish: julienned carrot, green peas, mushrooms and thin noodles in the bowl, where the plain húsleves serves only meat, root vegetables and noodles.
- Pénzcentrum describes the fullest versions as combining an old hen with beef, offal and a lot of vegetables, and says each household makes it differently. It also suggests letting the foam sink back rather than skimming; Offbeat Budapest's recipe skims, which gives a clearer broth.
- Yellow colour comes from poultry skin; onion skin and a little tomato purée deepen it. Pénzcentrum mentions that cooks once added saffron to the finished broth.
- Offbeat Budapest calls it a classic of Hungarian wedding receptions, and Gundel lists it for wedding dinners and Sunday lunches. Regular chicken makes a lighter soup in half the time.
- Make the broth a day ahead; skim the set fat before reheating.
- Garnish differs by source: Offbeat Budapest (used here) puts hen, carrot, peas, mushrooms and noodles in each bowl; Pénzcentrum cooks thin homemade noodles in a little strained broth and serves the halved vegetables with the boiled meat on a platter; Gundel adds peas, kohlrabi, turnip and celery after the broth is cooked and uses egg vermicelli.
Adapted from Offbeat Budapest: Újházi chicken soup (quantities), Pénzcentrum: Így készül a hamisítatlan magyar Újházi tyúkhúsleves, and Gundel: Újházi chicken soup with homemade noodles.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.