Langos, Deep Fried Flatbread and Hungary's 'Common Currency of Taste'
One moment, I didn't know anything about Hungarian cuisine; the next moment, all I could think about was lángos (pronounced LAHN-gosh), deep fried Hungarian flatbread commonly rubbed with garlic and topped with sour cream. Food blogger James Boo of The Eaten Path, who recently visited Budapest, describes this savory yeast doughnut as "the common currency of taste," what pizza is to New York City and hot dogs are to Chicago. The lángos in the photo was deep fried in lard and topped with sour cream and sauerkraut. Boo's description says,
The resulting behemoth of fats and flavors was admittedly not as delicious as the fresh, everyday Lángos from the roadside stand; nevertheless, it was a behemoth. The edges were crunchier, the innards were chewier, the greasy taste of the dough was heartier, and the tart, peppery combination of sauerkraut and sour cream cut through the bready heaviness of the Lángos so well that, before I knew it, I had eaten enough to feed a pre-medieval Magyar tribe.
Crunchy, chewy, bready. greasy, tart, and sour? I'm in.
Hungarian food blog chew.hu has some suggestions on where to get the best lángos in Budapest. And if you're not going to Budapest anytime soon, maybe you can try to make it at home. (If someone well versed in the ways of lángos-making has a recipe recommendation, let us know!)
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7 Comments:
they serve a good langos at eurotrip in brooklyn
hrwalf at 6:36PM on 06/26/09
Langos is one of the few recipes I had to have out once I'd tried it.
However, I am not well versed and rarely make it. (My wife is allergic to live yeast). I'm certainly interested if there is a better recipe.
tankwatkins at 7:01PM on 06/26/09
Sweet fancy Moses. I want to go to there. I will have to make myself some langos very soon.
maryr123 at 7:06PM on 06/26/09
"what pizza is to New York City and hot dogs are to Chicago."
Or the other way around.
NotAmerican at 11:46PM on 06/26/09
I come from Slovakia (Hungary's Northern neighbour) and I haven't had a good Langos since I moved to States. I think it's about time for me to make them because ever since I saw your post that's the only thing I can think about... :)
Redheaded Kitchen at 1:50AM on 06/27/09
If you want to get langos tomorrow, Boppy, the Eurotrip place mentioned by @hrwalf above is literally right downstairs from my house.
Michele Humes at 10:51AM on 06/27/09
I had my first Longos 15 years ago along the northern bank of the Danube River (Hungarian/Slovakian border). I too was an immediate devotee and cajoled a Slovakian friend of Hungarian decent to get his mother's recipe for me. You may have to convert some measurements but that's half the fun of cooking foreign foods...
500 gr. flour
250 gr. white yogurt
1 egg
1/2 TBS salt
1/2 tsp. soda
2 TBS oil
1/2 cup warm milk
2.5 dk. yeast ( use one packet of dry yeast)
1) Prepare leaven--combine yeast and milk and let stand 10 minutes.
2) Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and all other ingredients. Mix well.
3) Cover and let stand/rise for one hour.
4) Dough will be thin. Liberally flour a board and your hands and form oblong flat cakes about 4x6 inches and lay carefully in hot oil to deep fry. Hold under the surface and turn if necessary until golden brown and as crisp as you like.
5) Dough can be refrigorated up to 10 days...
Notes; this recipe will make enough dough to feed a small army. I always scale the measurements to be reasonable...
Nobody told you these were healthy, right?
Garnishes are optional but in most of Central Europe they use;
an oil/minced garlic meld
finely grated white cheese
ketchup
sour cream and/or any combination of the above.
I've never seen sauerkraut used but it sounds good (maybe an Austrian influence)
I've never seen a sweet topping but this is not too different from Elephant Ears or Navajo Frybread...
czken at 7:01AM on 06/28/09