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Hungarian Bean Soup (Jókai Bableves)

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Every plate of this Hungarian bean soup is a confession of love. Goulash takes second place to this jewel. Comfort food for the soul!

My smoky bean soup is named by famous Hungarian writer, Mór Jókai, who once said: “Flames of passion may eventually be extinguished at the altar of love. But the oven’s warmth lasts forever. Every plate of food is a confession of love, or vice versa a silent cry for divorce. – This recipe will be loved by everyone!

Jokai Bean Soup Main
Chief Desirist Dr Hanna

Hungarian Bean Soup (Jókai Bableves)

5 from 5 votes
My smoky bean soup is named by famous Hungarian writer, Mór Jókai, who once said: “Flames of passion may eventually be extinguished at the altar of love. But the oven’s warmth lasts forever. Every plate of food is a confession of love, or vice versa: a silent cry for divorce. "– This hearty recipe will be loved by everyone! Using smoked uncured bacon or ham is important, but if you want a vegan version, use mushrooms, lots of smoked paprika, and some liquid smoke.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Soak 1 hour
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 10
Course: Soup/Stews
Cuisine: Hungarian
Calories: 154
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb dry beans*
  • 1 large smoked ham hock*
  • 1 TBSP oil
  • 1 cup 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 large carrots peeled, sliced
  • 1 parsnip peeled, sliced
  • 300 g green or red pepper diced
  • 1 Jalapeno pepper veins removed, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 140 g tomatoes cubed*
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 TBSP Vegeta
  • salt to taste
  • 1 TBSP paprika
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 TBSP vinegar

Equipment

  • Dutch Oven 6 Qt
  • Garlic press
  • strainer

Method
 

  1. Cook smoked ham the same day or a day before: fully cover the ham with water in a large pot. Cook it for one hour, covered. You will part of the ham, and some cooking water later.)
  2. Soak the beans, covered with water overnight. I usually just cover the beans with water in a pot, and bring it to boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then cover and let it soak for one hour.
  3. In a 6 Qt Dutch oven fry the diced onion on the olive oil for 3 minutes. Add carrots, parsnip, peppers, Jalapeno, and sautee them for anoter 2 minutes. Add minced garlic, and sautee it for 30 seconds.
  4. Add tomatoes, bay leaves, Vegeta.
  5. Strain beans, and add it to the pot.
  6. Slide the veggies to the side of the pot, creating room for frying the paprika for 30 seconds. (That bring out the aroma.)
  7. Add 3 cups of the ham’s cooking water, plus another 3 cups water. Cook soup for another one hour, or until the beans are soft.
  8. Dice the ham, and add to soup.
  9. Serve hot soup with sour cream, vinegar and parsley on top.
  10. Optional vegan version: see Notes.

Notes

  • Use Pinto beans or Goya small red beans. In summer, you can find fresh beans or you can use frozen lima deans, if you like. No need to soak the later two beans.
  • Use the artisan Hungarian Smoked ham hock: https://hirssausagemarket.com/product-price-list
  • Tomatoes: You can use canned tomatoes, if you don’t have fresh.
  • Vegan version: optional Liquid Smoke helps, if you need to enhance the smokiness, or you want a vegan version of the soup. For the vegan version replace the meat with 1 pound sliced mushrooms, double the smoked paprika.
  

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. 5 stars
    So delicious! Very flavorful with just the right touch of smokiness and spice.

    • Hi Christianna, thanks for your kind words. Glad to see your comment! Pleas subscribe to the upcoming Newsletter.

  2. Great recipe! I’ve made the vegetarian version of this fantastic soup with fresh green beans and a little bit of smoked paprika, it was delicious!

    • 5 stars
      Thank you Suzie for sharing your creative vegan version of the bean soup. It is a great and tasty idea!

      • Always nice to hear, when someone can share the good food with her/his partner! Thank you Katherina for letting me know.

  3. We made the vegan version of this using liquid smoke and smoked paprika for the ham-like flavor. So good! You don’t miss the ham at all. The portions are generous enough that we had good leftovers for the two of us. My husband loves this soup!

  4. We also added vegan sausage. The spices in the sausage added to the soup flavor.

    • Hi Katharina, what a yummy vegan addition. Thank you for the suggestion. Glad you enhanced this way the recipe!

  5. I'm making your recipe now, but I'm confused about the vinegar, how do you use it?

    • Hi Nicole, thank you for pointing out how to add the vinegar. Apologies for the missing part in the Instructions. I made the change: you add the vinegar at the end. I always offer extra cream, hot pepper and vinegar to my guests, as everyone's taste is different. Not to mention the kind of sour cream one can buy in different places of a country...Lately I use apple cider vinegar, but I add a bit more of that to my taste: the regular vinegar is stronger than apple cider. Hope this helps.