Hungarian Pasta: Tarhonya, Csipetke, Lebbencs and Their Companions
After exploring Italian pasta, let’s return home. The culture of Hungarian pasta is built on a completely different logic; here, eggs take center stage, and pasta is most often not a standalone dish but rather an addition to soups, a side dish, or the base of a simple, hearty one-pot meal. In this section, we will go through the most important Hungarian pastas and what dishes they belong to.
What does 4 and 8 egg mean?
In Hungarian stores, almost every pasta has the label: 4 egg or 8 egg. This is not marketing but a food regulation. The number indicates how many eggs are used per kilogram of dried pasta, and one egg in this calculation corresponds to 45 grams of egg without the shell.
- Egg-free dried pasta: flour and water. Cheaper, cooks softer, better suited for layered dishes and sweet pastas.
- 4 egg pasta: the everyday staple. Holds its shape well, suitable for soups and as a side dish.
- 8 egg pasta: yellower, tastier, more elastic, and less likely to fall apart. This is the one to choose for festive meat soups, as a fine soup addition.
There is also egg durum dried pasta: made from durum wheat and eggs, it combines the chewiness of Italian pasta with the flavor of Hungarian egg pasta.
Soup Additions
Cérnametélt Thin egg noodles, a classic addition to Sunday meat soup. Cooks in just a few minutes, so always add it at the last moment.
Csigatészta Pasta rolled from small squares on a ridged “snail maker,” an essential addition to wedding and festive meat soups. It’s now available in stores, but hand-rolled is the real deal.
Kiskocka, eperlevél, betűtészta Small shapes for soups: green pea soup, vegetable soup, tomato soup. The letter pasta is a favorite in school cafeteria tomato soup.
Csipetke Small pieces pinched from fresh, firm egg pasta with fingers. Suitable for goulash soup, bean goulash, and bean soup. Cooked directly in the soup.
Grízgaluska Not flour pasta, but small dumplings made from semolina, eggs, and fat, another classic for meat soup.
Pasta for Side Dishes and Main Courses
Galuska and nokedli Fresh, soft egg pasta that is either cut with a cutter or from a board into boiling water. A must-have side for paprika chicken, stews, and goulashes, and can also be a standalone dish: egg nokedli, sheep cheese strudel. Nokedli requires a sticky, BFF55 flour to avoid being gummy.
Tarhonya Crumbled, then dried small pearls made from firm egg pasta. Traditionally made in large quantities in the Great Plain during summer and stored for winter. The secret of tarhonya is toasting: it must be toasted in fat until golden brown before cooking, which gives it a nutty flavor and keeps it separate. After that, it is moistened and steamed until soft. Tarhonya with meat, ratatouille tarhonya, and it’s also excellent as a soup addition.
Lebbencs Thin, hand-rolled and dried pasta sheets that are broken into irregular pieces before cooking. According to tradition, it got its name because the thin pasta sheets fluttered at the slightest breeze. The base of lebbencs soup: lebbencs toasted in bacon, potatoes, and paprika.
Kockatészta (large square, frilled square) The Hungarian “comfort food” pasta. Cabbage pasta, potato pasta (grenadírmars), ham squares, egg-fried pasta.
Szélesmetélt Wide egg ribbon pasta. Cheese csusza, poppy seed and walnut pasta, pasta for creamy chicken sauces.
Csőtészta, szarvacska, kagyló The bases for Hungarian layered pasta dishes: layered pasta, ham and sour cream layered, and the classic from school cafeterias, cheese csőtészta.
Quick Reference Table
| Pasta | Typical Use |
| Cérnametélt | meat soup |
| Csigatészta | festive meat soup |
| Kiskocka, eperlevél, betűtészta | vegetable soup, green pea soup, tomato soup |
| Csipetke | goulash soup, bean goulash, bean soup |
| Grízgaluska | meat soup |
| Galuska, nokedli | paprika chicken, stews, egg nokedli, strudel |
| Tarhonya | tarhonya with meat, ratatouille tarhonya, soup addition |
| Lebbencs | lebbencs soup |
| Kockatészta | cabbage pasta, potato pasta, ham squares |
| Szélesmetélt | cheese csusza, poppy seed and walnut pasta |
| Csőtészta, szarvacska | layered pasta, cheese csőtészta |
Three Tips for Hungarian Pastas
- Cook the soup pasta separately. If you cook cérnametélt or csiga in the meat soup, the starch will cloud the broth. Cook it separately in salted water and add it to each plate. Csipetke is the exception; it cooks in the soup.
- Don’t skip toasting the tarhonya. Without toasting, it will boil into a sticky mush. Toast it until it turns nut brown and starts to smell.
- Don’t let the nokedli soak. After straining, immediately toss it in a little butter or fat, so it doesn’t stick together and remains nice and fluffy when served.
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