EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Hungary
Bécsi Szelet - Hungarian Wiener Schnitzel
Going to Hungary and not trying their Wiener schnitzel, lángos or a goulash soup would be a mistake. You must try them, to be able to understand their sense of cuisine. Start your day with a lángos with cheese and sour cream. During the day, make a brake for a lunch and enjoy a bécsi szelet. And finally, spend a relaxing evening in a pub where you could have a satiating goulash soup. Sounds good, doesn’t it? So do not hesitate and try it! However, if you had to choose only one of them that should not be missed, it would be bécsi szelet. Traditional Hungarian-style Wiener schnitzel is something so typical for the whole country, that does not matter in which region you were, it would be in the menu. So, no worries, you will not have any problem with finding it.
Bécsi szelet is a flat, pork meat cutlet fried and breaded. The size of it, is usually impressive. It could even fill your whole plate. It is thin, usually comes with no bones and has golden crust. The pork meat is only with salt. No herbs, almost no pepper and no other spices. It is flat and traditionally it is not stuffed with anything. Some variations can be filled with cheese or ham, but as a rule, it should be plain. The meat is fried in breadcrumbs with flour and eggs. It is tick and fully covers the whole cutlet. The crust, depending on the place where you get it, might be either similar to the one that is used for fried cheese or, may be more like a home-made one.
Wiener schnitzel is usually served either with boiled or baked potatoes or with French fries. While traditionally potatoes are the one that should be served, nowadays, French fries dominate. Quicker to be prepared, favorite among tourists and locals. To that come some kind of a side dish. It might be a mix of fresh vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and ice lettuce or pickles or a stewed cabbage. While fresh vegetables are more refreshing and thirst quenching, pickled cucumbers, peppers, sour cabbage or beetroots are, for me, much better for any bécsi szelet. Stewed cabbage is the one that warms you the most. It is great for cold days or during the wintertime.
Doesn’t matter which version you select it is always good. As it is so popular, it is always fresh, made on request and not reheated in a microwave. Almost every restaurant or a small bar do it locally, do the chance it is served from a frozen cutlet is almost zero.
Wiener schnitzel with cabbage and boiled potatoes
The first Wiener schnitzel we had, was the basic one. A big, flat cutlet served with boiled potatoes and sweet cabbage stew. It was served on a big plate, and I must admit, the way of serving it, was not the best one. Although the cutlet was big, it seemed to be a small one, as it filled only half of the dish. The second one was empty. Potatoes were laid on the schnitzel and the cabbage was served aside in a small bowl. All in all, it looked poorly, although the portion was relatively big. There was no color in it, nothing attracting your sight. If side dishes were nicely placed on the plate and the plate was decorated with some tomato pieces, it would be much better. However, this Wiener schnitzel was good. The way it was breaded, was good. The dough was not to heavy and not to oily, what sometimes happens, if it is improperly fired. The cutlet was thin, had no bone and was tender. Potatoes were well boiled. Neither raw, nor to soft. They were sprinkled with fresh fennel, that gave them and extra flavor. The cabbage stew was mild, no special taste was to be distinguished. Plain, not dominating and very delicate. This Wiener schnitzel was the most traditional one. The one you could get in Austria, Slovakia, Czechia or Poland.
Bécsi Szelet with baked potatoes and garlic sauce
The next Wiener schnitzel, that is worth mentioning is the one served with a garlic sauce. The pork meat that was previewed for the cutlet, was halved. Each part was fried separately in breadcrumbs, eggs and flour. The dough was thick and well fried. The cutlet was thin, tender and juicy. Half of the height of each cutlet was pork and the second one was the dough. It was served with no bones and only with baked American potatoes. No greens were added, apart from the garnish. As a refreshing side dish, only a garlic sauce was served in a small bowl. The whole set was good. Different from the previous one, but also satiating and well prepared. Freshly fried, with a crispy crust and crunchy potatoes.
Enormous Wiener schnitzel with French fries and a salad mix
But, the one schnitzel, I would like the most to mention, is the one from the picture above.
Enormous. The whole big plate was filled with the cutlet. Very flat, with a relatively thin dough around it and pale in color. The pork meat was also soft and prepared only with salt and pepper. It was in a pale, traditional dough made of breadcrumbs, eggs and flour. It was not crispy, but that was not a disadvantage. Its mildness was allowing you to fully taste the meat. With every bite, you could enjoy the well-balanced composition of dough, meat and once again dough.
It came with French fries on a separate dish and with a mix of fresh vegetables on the second one. Fries were golden and crispy.
Vegetables were fresh, crunchy and added a nice refreshing tone to the meal. The whole meal was served on three separate plates, what underlined its largeness. Although it was not so beautiful, it was impressive and something not to be forgotten.
So, as you can see, many ways of serving almost the same. Well, actually ordering Bécsi Szelet you might get a different set of components However, what is sure, if it is a traditional one, it would be a breaded and fried thin pork cutlet. So, find the one that is the most in your style!
Read more about traditional Hungarian cuisine in the post: TOP 10 Most popular Hungarian dishes.
