Tochitură

Ingredients

Meat

• 1 kgpork shoulder and belly, in 3 cm cubes
• 300 gpork sausage, sliced
• 200 gsmoked bacon or ribs
• 150 gpork liver or kidney, optional

Base

• 3 tbsplard
• 2onions, chopped
• 6 clovesgarlic
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 200 mldry white wine
• 1 tsppaprika
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tspblack pepper
• salt
• 300 mlwater

Mujdei

• 6 clovesgarlic
• salt
• 3 tbspoil or a little broth

To serve

• mămăligă, the polenta
• brânză de burduf or telemea, salty sheep’s cheese
• 1fried egg per person
• a glass of wine

Directions

1. Use shoulder for texture, belly for fat, sausage for spice and smoked bacon for depth. A single lean cut gives a thin, dull tochitură. Add liver or kidney if you want the fuller traditional version, which many households make. Cook the belly and bacon slowly in the lard until the fat runs and they begin to crisp.
2. Brown it properly with space around it, since crowded meat steams grey and the colour is much of the flavour. Lift it out and fry the onions in the fat until soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic, then the tomato paste, and fry the paste for 3 minutes until it darkens. Now take the pan off the heat before adding the paprika. Return the meat, add the wine and let it bubble for a couple of minutes. Add the sausage, bay, pepper and water. Now simmer it, partly covered, for about an hour.
4. Keep it at a gentle simmer, and add the liver only in the last 15 minutes if you are using it. Liver toughens and goes bitter if stewed for an hour, so it goes in late. Uncover it and let the liquid cook away until the meat is glossy and sitting in fat and a little thick sauce. It should be reduced until the sauce clings, and that concentration is the point.
5. Taste it and season it firmly. Bring salted water to a boil and rain in coarse maize flour, whisking hard. Cook it, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir it often and cook it long enough that the maize loses its raw taste, which is the fault of a rushed mămăligă. It should be thick enough that a spoon stands up in it.
6. Crush the garlic to a paste with salt and beat in the oil or a little of the hot broth. Fry one egg per person in a spoonful of the fat from the stew, keeping the yolk runny.
7. Put a mound of mămăligă on each plate, spoon the tochitură beside it, and lay the fried egg on top. Crumble salty sheep’s cheese over the mămăligă. Serve mujdei on the side and a glass of red wine.

Technique

• Tochitură moldovenească is the version with more garlic and wine.
• Brânză de burduf is matured in a sheepskin or pine bark and is strongly flavoured.
• The fried egg and the cheese are part of the dish rather than additions.

Substitutions

• Any mix of pork cuts with a good proportion of fat.
• Feta in place of telemea, which is close.

Variations

• Made with liver and kidney included.
• Tochitură ardelenească, from Transylvania.
• Made with more wine and less tomato.

History

Pork stewed in its own fat and served with mămăligă, salty cheese and a fried egg on top.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tochitură?

Tochitură is a main from Moldova: pork stew with wine and garlic over mămăligă, fried egg. Pork stewed in its own fat and served with mămăligă, salty cheese and a fried egg on top.

How long does Tochitură take to make?

Tochitură takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Tochitură?

Yes, within limits. Any mix of pork cuts with a good proportion of fat. Feta in place of telemea, which is close.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tochitură?

Keep it at a gentle simmer, and add the liver only in the last 15 minutes if you are using it. Liver toughens and goes bitter if stewed for an hour, so it goes in late. Uncover it and let the liquid cook away until the meat is glossy and sitting in fat and a little thick sauce. It should be reduced until the sauce clings, and that concentration is the point.