Borscht
Borscht (Russian: борщ) is actually a traditional Ukrainian dish. Similar dishes exist in cuisines of other countries of Eastern and Central Europe like Poland, Lithuania, Romania or Moldova. Borscht became very popular in Russia centuries ago. Now this rich stew is associated with Russia and is also known as the Russian red (or beet) soup. Other spellings include: borsch, borsh, borsht, borcsh, borstch, etc.
| 2 litre (= 8 cups) | meat stock or water |
| 200 g (=7 oz) | beef |
| 2 | bay leaves |
| 1 | onion |
| 200 g (=7 oz) | cabbage |
| 150 g (=5 oz) | potato |
| 200 g (=7 oz) | beets |
| 100 g (=3.5 oz) | carrot |
| 1 tbsp | tomato puree (or 2 tomatoes) |
| 100 g (=3.5 oz) | lard, bacon or butter |
| 1 tbsp | sugar |
| 1 tbsp | vinegar (3%) |
| 100 g (=1/2 cup) | sour cream |
| parsley and/or chives | |
| salt, pepper |
Borscht - step by step
Meat stock (can be cooked in advance)
Place meat in a pan and add cold water to cover the meat. Bring to boil, removing scam as it gathers. Pour the water away and clean off any scam. Place meat in the pan, fill it with boiling water and bring everything to slow boil. Add one whole onion and bay leaves and let it simmer in the covered pan on low heat for about 2 hours.
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- Cut potatoes into thick chips. Shred the cabbage.
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- Bring meat stock (or water) to boil, put in potatoes and cabbage and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
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- Grate or cut carrots and beets into very thin stripes.
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- Preheat a frying pan and add lard, bacon or butter. Add beets and sauté for about 10-15 minutes.
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- Add tomato puree (or chopped tomatoes), sugar and vinegar and cook for a couple of minutes. Add some water or meat stock if the mixture gets too dry.
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- Add carrots. Sauté in the covered pan for another 10 minutes.
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- Put sautéed vegetables into the pan with cabbage and potatoes.
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- Add cooked meat and simmer for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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- Remove cooked onion and bay leaves. Strip meat off bones and finely chop it.
Serve borscht with chopped fresh parsley or chives, sour cream (1-2 tbsp per portion) and a piece of brown bread.
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