EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Hungary
Be Fit in Hungary - try light chicken dishes
Don’t you think that after a couple of days in Hungary with an everyday lunch or dinner including breaded pork, one could be bored? So were we. That is why we wanted to get something lighter. Something that would have a lot of fresh salad or grilled vegetables or anything that would be refreshing. Chicken meals seamed to be a good option, especially that, comparing to other dishes, they should come with vegetables.
Our first try was chicken breast in Argentinian herbs served with a lot of salad. Reasonably spicy, however quite salty due to the usage of a mix of herbs from a package. I believe this herbal composition included monosodium glutamine, that was giving this characteristic aftertaste. Although the proportion of each herb was good, still this salty part was too dominant. Apart from that, the chicken breast was well grilled from both sides. Neither to raw, nor to dry. As the meat was thinly cut, I guess the whole grilling process was very short, what guaranteed keeping meat juices in the chicken. It was served on an iceberg salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. All these vegetables were slightly decorated with a balsamic crème. I missed olive oil that would give salad this lovely creamy texture. However, all in all, this Argentinian-style chicken was a good alternative to all other breaded pork dishes.
Another, what was called, grilled chicken we tried in Seged. This time, although the meal was good, we were a little bit surprised by what we got. Not that it was untasty, but still, ordering a grilled chicken breast, you would expect to get a piece of meat with no egg or flour on it. And that is how it looked like. Although it was not breaded – lucky we, a thin egg layer was covering the breast. On top of it were fried tomatoes and mushrooms fried on butter. It surely was not a light meal as we wanted it to be. To that came a small cucumber garnish. All in all, it looked quite nicely. Was fresh, aromatic – mostly due to mushrooms and colourful.
Talking about chicken, we cannot forget the one we ate in Debrecen. Grilled chicken breast with grilled vegetables, spinach and yoghurt sauce. Grilled chicken was juicy, well spiced (what is really rare in Hungary – it seems they do not use either salt or pepper while preparing their meals) and properly grilled – not too much but still not raw. If it is about grilled vegetables, I would expect to get more of them and not only a couple zucchini slices or stripes. It was nicely served, garnished with herbs and some drops of an original, full of flavor virgin olive oil. Served aside spinach was a nice colour accent, however nothing more. It was over cooked and completely not spiced. The whole meal was good, even more than just good. The yoghurt dip that was with chilli flakes was a little bit sour what was giving a very interesting aftertaste while combining it with meat. That was something that made this dish brilliant and unforgettable. Just a sauce, but so well prepared and such a good idea to add it both to grilled vegetables and meat.
We also couldn’t not try a salad. Salads in our European meaning are not very popular in Hungary. Usually what you get after ordering a salad is a side-dish – cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles etc. This time it was a real salad served with chicken and a mayo sauce. Grilled chicken stripes were put on an iceberg salad with fresh tomato and bell pepper cut in small cubes. Additionally, some corn and red cabbage was in it too. All that was topped with a neutral, quite heavy, mayo sauce. On the salad layer were put chicken stripes, sparkled with fresh parsley and red pepper cubes. Tasty, colourful and due to the amount of meat also satiating. A good try and a good alternative for anything deep-fried on a hot, summer day.
Basing on our experience, it is not so easy to find relatively light meals in Hungary. Hungarian cuisine is full of breaded and fried meals, so anything slightly grilled or fresh is not so popular in menus.
If you are looking for more salad and light meals ideas, check Croatian posts: Mussels in a tomato sauce - Dagnje na Buzaru - Mussels alla buzara, Mussels in breadcrumps - Mussels alla buzara (white) or Grilled whole squids or a squid salad?
