Juicy pork shoulder, thick creamy sauce, pickled cucumbers, and tender vegetables make for an honest meal for 4–5 people. The sweet and sour taste is complemented by fragrant spices and fluffy yeast dumplings that soak up the sauce beautifully.
This traditional dish takes a bit of time, but the preparation itself is not complicated. Let the meat slowly become tender, use the strained broth to make the sauce, and finish it with sour cream, cucumber brine, and sugar. After resting, the flavors blend even better.
What You Will Need
For the meat and broth:
- 1 kg pork shoulder trimmings,
- 1 onion,
- 2 cloves of garlic,
- salt,
- bay leaf,
- allspice,
- whole peppercorns.
For the Old Bohemian sauce:
- butter,
- 1–2 shallots,
- plain flour for the roux,
- sweet paprika,
- pickled cucumbers, finely chopped,
- carrot, finely chopped,
- onion, finely chopped,
- cold meat broth,
- cooking cream, at least 12%,
- sour cream,
- sugar to taste,
- brine from pickled cucumbers to taste,
- salt.
The original recipe, apart from the meat, onion, garlic, and shallots, does not specify exact amounts of ingredients, so adjust them according to the desired sauce thickness and number of servings.
Step-by-Step Preparation:
1. Preparing the water and spices: Pour water into a pot, salt it, and add onion, garlic, bay leaf, allspice, and whole peppercorns. Bring the water to a boil to release the aroma of the added spices.
2. Cooking the pork shoulder: Place the pork shoulder trimmings into the boiling water. Simmer gently until tender, about 60–90 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.
3. Straining the broth: Remove the tender meat from the pot and keep it warm. Carefully strain the broth, as it will be used to prepare the sauce.
4. Preparing a light roux: In a clean pot, melt butter and sauté the finely chopped shallot. Add plain flour and stir constantly to make a light roux.
5. Adding paprika and vegetables: Just before finishing, sprinkle the roux with sweet paprika and stir briefly so the paprika doesn’t become bitter. Add the finely chopped pickled cucumbers, carrot, and onion.
6. Pouring in cold broth: Pour in the measured cold meat broth and whisk thoroughly. Cold broth helps prevent lumps and makes it easier to create a smooth sauce.
7. Cooking the sauce: Add cooking cream with at least 12% fat, salt the sauce, and cook for at least 15–20 minutes. The flour must cook through so there’s no raw flour taste left in the sauce. The total sauce preparation takes about 25 minutes.
8. Adding sour cream: First, mix the sour cream with a little hot sauce in a bowl, then stir it into the pot. This reduces the risk of curdling in the hot sauce.
9. Final seasoning: Add cucumber brine for acidity and sugar for smoothness as needed. The finished sauce should have a balanced sweet and sour flavor.
10. Warming and serving: Slice or cube the cooked meat, place it in the sauce, and heat together. Serve with yeast dumplings and plenty of sauce.
How to Prevent Sour Cream from Curdling
Do not add cold sour cream directly to the hot pot. First, temper it by mixing with a little hot sauce, then gradually stir it into the rest.
If it does curdle, you can carefully blend the sauce with an immersion blender. Keep in mind, though, that this will also blend the pieces of pickled vegetables and the sauce will lose its original texture.
What Meat and Onion Can Be Used
Shoulder is suitable for slow cooking thanks to its fat content and stays juicy. You can also substitute pork leg or beef round, adjusting the cooking time according to the chosen meat and piece size.
Instead of shallots, you can use regular white onion. Shallots have a milder aroma and almost melt into the sauce, which is why they are especially suitable for this recipe.
Resting and Serving
You can serve the finished sauce immediately, but it’s even more flavorful the next day, when the flavors have blended and deepened. When reheating, warm it up slowly and adjust the consistency with a little broth if needed.
