Ingredients
Filling
- 600 gpork liver, or 600 g fresh pig’s blood for the blood version
- 400 gpork shoulder and fatty trimmings
- 300 grice, cooked and cooled
- 300 gonions, chopped fine
- 2 tbspsweet paprika
- 1 tbspground black pepper
- 1 tspground marjoram
- 2 tspsalt
- 200 mlpork stock
- 2m wide natural hog casing, rinsed and soaked
To cook and serve
- 3 litreswater
- lard, for frying
- sauerkraut or pickles
- mustard
Directions
- Simmer the pork shoulder and trimmings in water for 45 minutes until tender, keeping the stock. Poach the liver separately for just 10 minutes — overcooked liver goes grainy and bitter, and it is the commonest fault in a hurka.
- Mince the cooked pork and liver together coarsely.
- Sweat the onion in a little lard for 15 minutes until completely soft and translucent but not coloured, then cool. Raw onion never cooks through inside a sausage and stays harsh.
- Mix the minced meat, onion, cooked rice, paprika, pepper, marjoram, salt and enough stock to make a loose, moist mixture. It should be wetter than you expect — the rice takes up liquid as it stands.
- Fry a spoonful and taste for salt and paprika before filling anything.
- Fill the casing no more than two-thirds full, because the rice swells, and tie into 15 cm lengths. Prick each three or four times.
- Poach at 80°C (176°F) — barely a bubble — for 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Boiling splits them and empties the pot.
- Cool completely, then fry in lard or roast at 200°C (400°F) until the skin is crisp and blistered. Serve with sauerkraut, pickles and mustard.
Technique
- Two-thirds full. The rice is the reason, and an overfilled hurka bursts every time.
- Poach at 80°C (176°F). Every failure with this sausage is a pot that boiled.
- Ten minutes for the liver, no more. This is what separates a good hurka from a bitter one.
Substitutions
- Fresh blood in place of the liver for véres hurka, mixed in raw with the cooled ingredients.
- Barley or bread in place of rice, both of which are used in different regions.
- Chicken liver for a milder sausage.
Variations
- Véres hurka (blood) and májas hurka (liver) are made side by side at the same pig feast.
- Roasted whole in the oven with potatoes and onions rather than fried in slices.
History
Made at the disznótor, the village pig-killing feast, when blood and offal had to be used up on the same day.
Frequently asked questions
What is Hurka?
Hurka is a charcuterie & cured from Hungary: liver or blood sausage bulked with rice, fried until the skin crisps. Made at the disznótor, the village pig-killing feast, when blood and offal had to be used up on the same day.
How long does Hurka take to make?
Hurka takes 1 hour of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes 10 sausages. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Hurka?
Yes, within limits. Fresh blood in place of the liver for véres hurka, mixed in raw with the cooled ingredients. Barley or bread in place of rice, both of which are used in different regions. Chicken liver for a milder sausage.
What is the most important thing to get right in Hurka?
Sweat the onion in a little lard for 15 minutes until completely soft and translucent but not coloured, then cool. Raw onion never cooks through inside a sausage and stays harsh.
