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Tochitură Moldovenească (Moldavian Pork Stew with Mămăligă, Egg and Telemea)

Tochitură Moldovenească (Moldavian Pork Stew with Mămăligă, Egg and Telemea) reads richness 7.5, umami 7.4 and salinity 5.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Romanian main, about 2 hr 20 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 8.3 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.9 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 3.5 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 3.1 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.9 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 7.5 · Umami 7.4 · Salinity 5.4 · Allium 3.2 · Funk & Ferment 2.8 · Sourness 2.8 · Smoke 2.7 · Fruity 2.4 · Citrus 2.2 · Sweetness 1.8 · Earthy 1.4 · Bitterness 1.4 · Floral 1.3 · Warm Spice 1.2 · Nutty 1.2 · Marine & Briny 1.0 · Herbaceous 0.8 · Heat 0.8

What's in it (16)

• pork shoulder roast — 800 g
• pork liver — 200 g
• pork belly — 150 g
• kielbasa — 150 g
• garlic — 18 g
• sunflower oil — 27 g
• dry white wine — 150 g
• tomato paste — 30 g
• sweet paprika — 5 g
• salt — 5 g
• ground black pepper — 3 g
• cornmeal — 250 g
• water — 1000 g
• salt — 5 g
• eggs — 400 g
• feta — 200 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 20 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 171.2 kcal, 7.9 g protein, 11.8 g fat, 7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (12 steps)

1. Render the smoked lardons in the sunflower oil over medium heat for 8 minutes until the fat has run and they are crisp.
2. Raise the heat and brown the cubed pork shoulder hard on all sides, 10 minutes, in two batches so the pan does not cool.
3. Pour in the white wine and scrape the base clean, 3 minutes, until it has reduced by half.
4. Stir in the tomato paste, paprika and crushed garlic, 2 minutes.
5. Season with the salt and pepper, cover, and stew over low heat for 1 hour, until the pork gives to a spoon. Add a splash of water if it dries.
6. Add the sliced sausage and simmer 10 minutes.
7. Add the liver last and cook only 5 minutes. Liver held longer than that turns to sand, and the difference between a good tochitură and a poor one is usually right here.
8. For the mămăligă, bring the water and its salt to a rolling boil, 5 minutes.
9. Rain the cornmeal in through your fingers while whisking hard, 3 minutes, to avoid lumps.
10. Drop the heat right down and stir with a wooden spoon for 30 minutes, until it comes away from the sides of the pot in one mass. Real mămăligă is stiff enough to cut with a thread, not a soft polenta.
11. Fry the eggs in a little of the pork fat, 4 minutes, keeping the yolks soft.
12. Serve each plate with a slab of mămăligă, the tochitură beside it, a fried egg on top and telemea grated thickly over. A bowl of mujdei, raw crushed garlic beaten with oil and water, goes on the table.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Ropa Vieja — Cuban
• Beef Bourguignon — French
• Ragù Bolognese (Tagliatelle al Ragù) — Italian
• Rinderroulade (Beef Roulades) — German
• Red Wine Braised Beef Stew — French

Keep reading: what richness, umami, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.