What are Hortobágyi Palacsinta?
Hortobágyi Palacsinta is really just Paprikás Csirke (Hungarian Paprika Chicken) in a pancake. First you fill a pancake with paprika spiced shredded chicken. And cover it with a rich sauce made from the chicken’s sauce of mixed with sour cream.
Origin
Hortobágyi Palacsinta, despite its name, does not originate from the Hortobágy region. Nor is its style particularly Hungarian. Not that this has stopped any self-respecting Étterem (restaurant) in and around Hortobágy from sticking it prominently on their menus.
János Rákóczi, a famous chef in Hungary from the 1940s and 50s, is popularly credited with inventing Hortobágyi Palacsinta as part of Hungary’s participation in 1958 Brussels World Fair, where Hungarian chefs showcased the best Hungary’s cuisine had to offer. And in doing so, he unwittingly created a new traditional Hungarian dish.
But not everyone agrees that Rákóczi’s recipe was 100% original. There are references to earlier recipes published in the 1930s but they’re not quite the same. Rákóczi had already worked for many years in French restaurants before the Brussels World Fair. My theory is that he knew traditional Hungarian food might be a bit heavy for the more sophisticated French and Belgian palettes. So he took the principles of Hungarian ingredients and flavours and just applied them to the savoury Gallic crepe.
All the essentials for a crepe are there. A savoury filling in the form of shredded pörkölt meat. Served with a sauce made from the pörkölt cooking sauce whisked together with tejföl (sour cream). And served with a dollop of yet more sour cream on top. He could easily have called it crepe paprikas!
How the dish was received in Brussels all those years ago is anyone’s guess. But if the surviving recipes are anything to go by, I am sure it would have pretty popular. This dish has everything that is great about Hungarian flavours. Served in light crepe like pancake.
How to make Hortobágyi Palacsinta
At first glance, this recipe might seem difficult. But in reality, it is just a chicken pörkölt with Hungarian TV paprika and pancakes. You just remove and shred the chicken. Purée the remaining sauce and whisk in some sour cream. Then just fill some pancakes with the shredded chicken, and serve with the sauce. It’s definitely worth the effort.
🇭🇺 Jó étvágyat!
Also Read
Looking for more classic Hungarian dishes? Check out these posts:
- Hungarian Chicken Noodle Soup – a delicious soup for any time of the year.
- Töltött Paprika – Hungarian stuffed peppers.
- Cold Sour Cherry Soup (Hidel Meggyleves) – a refreshing Hungarian cold fruit soup
- Hungarian Food – the Ultimate Guide
Or take a look at my full collection of Hungarian recipes for more Hungarian flavours.
Hungarian Meat Pancakes (Hortobágyi Palacsinta)
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 chicken thighs (skin on)
- 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
- 2 TV paprika ((or 1 large green bell pepper chopped into small dice))
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 200 ml tejföl (sour cream)
Pancakes
- 200 ml full fat milk
- 2 large eggs
- 200 ml water
- salt
- 65 ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Filling
- Heat the oil to a heavy bottomed pan then sauté the onions for 5-6 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for a further minute, stirring well to combine the ingredients.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the paprika and mix well then return the pan to the heat and add the chicken, and stir well to coat the chicken with the onion mixture.
- Cook the chicken just long enough for it to change colour. If the onion mixture starts to dry out or burn add a tbsp of water.
- Add enough water just to cover the chicken, cover the pan then simmer on a low heat for an hour.
- Take the pan off the heat. Then remove the chicken and set aside to cool. When cool, remove the thigh bones and then chop the chicken thighs and the skin until finely shredded.
- For a creamy texture, use a stick blender to purée the sauce in the pan.
- Mix together the tejföl (sour cream) and the flour in a clean bowl and stir until there are no lumps. Add to the sauce in the pan. If the sauce is too thick, add enough water so that you have a nice thick saucy consistency.
Pancakes
- Beat together the milk, eggs, water and salt together then whisk in the flour and a little oil.
- Ideally let the mixture stand for 30 minutes, but you can use it straight away.
- Pour in half a ladleful of pancake batter into a crepe or frying pan and fry for a few minutes until then underside starts to brown.
- Flip the pancake and repeat not the other side.
- Repeat the same process with the rest of the batter.
- Assembly
- Pre-heat the over to 170C
- Lay out your first pancake and add some shredded chicken towards one end, then roll the up the pancake so you have a nice long tube with the meat wrapped uo in the middle, then use your fingers to push in the ends of pancake to seal the pancake. Repeat for all pancakes.
- Place the filled pancakes into an oven proof baking dish, and then fill the baking dish with the sauce, but dont fully submerge the pancakes.
- Bake for about 15 minutes then serve with some sour cream.
Notes
I often skip the baking step at the end and just serve the pancakes with hot sauce drizzled all over it.
