How to prepare delicious Ukrainian Borsch?
How to prepare delicious Ukrainian Borsch?
Elane Wells
Modern Tokyo Times
The name Borsch (Borscht) in the ancient Slavic language means “red”. It also derives from the Slavic word “burak”, which stands for beetroot plant. Beetroot is one of the main ingredients of Borsch. It is also how Borsch turns red in color.
History
Borsch soup is a popular Slavic dish. It was also widely cooked in such countries as Lithuania and Poland. Presently, Ukrainians consider Borsch to be one of the main folk and traditional dishes of the Ukraine, which has been cooked and loved since the 14th century.
Borsch is one of the main dishes served during such events such as weddings, anniversaries, various other celebrations and even at funerals. Borsch is one of 12 dishes traditionally cooked for Christmas Eve in the Ukraine. There are many different recipes of this soup and many secrets of cooking it. However, all of them contain certain main ingredients such as beetroot, carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes and cabbage.
The Recipe
Traditional Ukrainian Borsch is not that easy to cook since it has many ingredients. Let’s take a look at one of the simplest, but yet very tasty recipes of Borsch.
Ingredients needed for preparing a one gallon pot of Borsch:
Meat (Pork or beef, spine bones) – 10 oz; beetroot – 1 large or 2 small ones; carrots – 1; onions – 1; garlic – 3 cloves; potatoes – 3 – 5; cabbage – 5 oz; tomato paste – 2-3 table spoons; kidney beans – 1 full cup; bay leaf; parsley roots and green; and salt, sugar, and pepper.
The tip is to start cooking the ingredients, which takes the longest to cook first. To speed up this process you may want to soak the kidney beans the night before in warm water. This would cut down the time of cooking from several hours to half an hour or so.
Step 1
Cut pork or beef (or both) to pieces or use ham or pork bones instead. Put the meat or bones into a large pot and add 3 quarters of water to it. Add the beans and set the pot on the stove to boil. Add bay leaf and some parsley root. Then add salt.
Step 2
Peel and slice the potatoes. Cut them into cubes. Peel the onions. Peel the garlic cloves and make them into small cubes.
Step 3
Peel the carrots and beetroot. Grate them into the same bowl.
Step 4
Once your kidney beans are almost cooked, add all the above mentioned veggies into the pot. Let them boil for 15-minutes.
Step 5
Once the potatoes are almost cooked, add few a table spoons of tomato paste and sliced cabbage. Add peppers and half of table spoon of sugar. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes more. Make sure to try out the beans and potatoes first to ensure that they are cooked well.
Now your Borsch is ready!
Serving
Borsch is always served hot. You may add green parsley leafs into each bowl and top them off with one table spoon of sour cream. Usually Borsch is served with ‘black’ rye bread, “salo” and garlic, which is one of the traditional Ukrainian snacks.
A pot of Borsch can be stored in your fridge for up to a week. Regardless of keeping Borsch as a leftover, it becomes even tastier day by day with the veggies, beetroot broth, and tomato flavored cabbage simmering in cold temperature until it is boiled again.
PS – You have various spellings of this food dish.
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