This Roma version of halászlé uses crucian carp, a fish increasingly rare in Hungary.
Ingredients:
200 grams smoked bacon, finely chopped
3 large onions, finely chopped
1 packet of sweet paprika
2 kilograms crucian carp
3 to 4 hot peppers
5 to 6 spoons lecsó
Salt
Method:
Place the bacon into a hot cauldron, add the onion and stir until withered. Add half of the paprika and immediately (so the paprika doesn’t burn) add the head and tail of the fish. Stir once or twice and then add two liters of water. When it comes to a boil, add salt, and then the body of the fish (which has been cut into thick slices), the lecsó and another two liters of water. Boil again, then add rest of the paprika and the hot peppers. Cook pasta into it, if desired, and serve with bread.
