🍽️ DINNER
Tochitură Moldovenească
A rich Moldovan pork stew with garlic served over mămăligă, crowned with a fried egg and salty cheese.
Moldovan · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 90 min
~988 cal · 69g protein · 47g carbs · 58g fat · 4g fiber · 1g sugars · 21g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Tochitură moldovenească is the hearty pork stew of the Moldovan and Moldavian countryside, pieces of pork (often with smoked sausage) slow-cooked in their own juices with garlic until meltingly tender. It is peasant food built for cold weather, rich and deeply savoury.
What makes it a feast is the way it is served: mounded over hot mămăligă, the cornmeal porridge that stands in for bread, with a fried egg on top and a scatter of crumbled brânză or telemea cheese for a salty, tangy contrast. A sharp garlic sauce is often served alongside. This version cooks the stew down in rather than the traditional wine.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 1 1/2 lb pork shoulder, in cubes
- 7 oz smoked pork sausage, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 2 tbsp oil or lard
- 1 cup or water
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal (for mămăligă)
- 4 cups water (for mămăligă)
- 4 eggs, for frying
- 3/4 cup brânză or telemea cheese, crumbled
- to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
- 1Brown the pork cubes in the oil, then add the sliced sausage and brown too.
- 2Season with salt and pepper, add a splash of stock, cover, and simmer gently 60 to 75 minutes until the pork is tender, adding a little more liquid if it dries.
- 3Stir in the garlic and paprika and cook uncovered a few minutes more until the sauce is thick and glossy.✎ Chef’s noteAdd the garlic near the end so it stays punchy rather than mellowing away.
- 4Make the mămăligă: boil the salted water, rain in the cornmeal whisking constantly, and cook 10 to 15 minutes to a thick porridge. Fry the eggs.
- 5Spoon mămăligă onto plates, top with the tochitură, a fried egg and crumbled cheese, and serve at once.
Moldovan/Moldavian tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Chișinău. Chisinau is a wine-country capital raised on mamaliga, cornmeal served with sheep cheese and sour cream. Moldovan cooking centres on placinta pastries, stuffed cabbage rolls, grilled meats, and the vineyards that surround the city.
🗺️
Moldova. Moldovan food is rustic and wine-country generous, mămăligă polenta, cabbage rolls (sarmale), and plăcintă pastries. Sitting between Romania and Ukraine, it centers the garden, the vineyard, and the family table.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Moldova
Mămăligă cu BrânzăThick cornmeal polenta layered with salty sheep's cheese and sour cream, the soul of Moldovan tables.
Plăcintă cu BrânzăPan-fried or baked flatbread pockets stuffed with salty cheese, a Moldovan morning favorite.
ZeamăA tangy chicken noodle soup soured with fermented bran brine and fragrant with lovage, Moldova's restorative bowl.
Browse all Moldova recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Moldova meal
Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper)Drink
CornulețeDessert
ZeamăLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Tochitură Moldovenească?
A rich Moldovan pork stew with garlic served over mămăligă, crowned with a fried egg and salty cheese.
Where does Tochitură Moldovenească come from?
Tochitură Moldovenească is a Moldovan dish from Chișinău, Moldova.
Can Tochitură Moldovenească be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Tochitură Moldovenească recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Tochitură Moldovenească safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Tochitură Moldovenească take to make?
About 110 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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