A tangy, smoky soup of sauerkraut and several kinds of sausage and smoked pork, enriched with paprika and a swirl of sour cream. Famously eaten on New Year's morning to chase away a hangover.
Korhelyleves literally means 'drunkard's soup', and Hungarians have long trusted its sour, salty broth to settle a queasy stomach after a night of revelry. It is the classic morning-after dish of New Year's Day and the early hours following a wedding feast, when leftover sauerkraut and smoked meats are pressed into restorative service.
Bracingly sour and smoky, with soft strands of sauerkraut, chunks of paprika sausage, and a creamy tang from the sour cream. It really does feel like it is putting you back together.
The lactic acid in sauerkraut and a slug of its brine give the bracing sourness believed to ease nausea, while smoked meats and a sour-cream-and-flour liaison add body and round out the sharp edges.
Variations
Made with a goulash-style paprika base, with frankfurters or debreziner sausage, some versions skip the cream for a clear broth
On the Palate
Where Korhelyleves sits in the Hungarian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 16 min
Saute chopped onion in lard until soft and golden.
- 21 min
Stir in ground paprika off the heat so it does not burn.
Watch outKill the heat before the paprika goes in — it scorches in seconds and turns the whole pot bitter.
- 34 min
Add drained sauerkraut, caraway seeds, and bay leaf, and pour in stock or water.
- 418 min
Add smoked pork and sliced sausages and simmer until the sauerkraut is tender.
- 53 min
Whisk sour cream with a little flour and temper it with hot broth.
Watch outTemper the sour cream with a few ladles of hot broth first — spoon it straight into boiling soup and it'll curdle into grainy specks.
- 63 min
Stir the cream mixture back into the soup and let it simmer briefly to thicken.
Watch outAfter the cream goes back in, only let it barely simmer — a hard boil splits the sour cream and thins the body.
- 72 min
Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and a touch of the sauerkraut brine.
- 81 min
Serve very hot with crusty bread.
