The perfect recipe for Ukrainian borscht
It's difficult to say which recipe for Ukrainian borscht can be considered classic—even in traditional Ukrainian restaurants, it's prepared differently.Some recipes call for beans, others add lard ground with garlic, some fry beets, others add raw ones, and the broth is made from pork, chicken, or beef. Whatever the case, properly prepared borscht should be hearty, rich, thick, and bright red or beetroot-colored. This step-by-step recipe will help you create just that.
The broth must be made with meat and bones—only then will it be rich and delicious. Borscht also needs to steep, so it's always prepared in large batches, with enough to last for two to three days.
Ingredients:
- pork on the bone (ribs or soup set) – 500 g;
- potatoes – 3-4 pcs;
- red beetroot – 1 pc;
- vegetable oil – 3 tbsp;
- carrots – 1 small;
- onion – 1 head;
- tomato sauce – 2-3 tbsp;
- fresh tomatoes – 2-3 pcs;
- white cabbage – 300 g;
- salt – to taste;
- bay leaves – 2 pcs;
- garlic, herbs – to taste.
How to cook Ukrainian borscht
Chop the bone-in meat into medium-sized pieces. If you're making borscht with spare ribs, cut it into portions. Rinse and place in a saucepan. Fill with cold water and set over high heat. As soon as foam begins to rise, skim it off with a slotted spoon. Reduce the heat to low and add salt to the broth.
Cook the meat until done. Remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon, strain the broth, and return to the heat.
Add the potato strips to the boiling broth. Cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Place two frying pans on adjacent burners, adding a little oil to each. Add the thinly sliced beets to one pan. Stirring occasionally, let simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, until tender.
In another pan, first fry the finely chopped onion, then add the julienned or diced carrots. Simmer the onion and carrots for about 15 minutes.
Mix the contents of both pans, add the tomato sauce and continue to simmer for another five minutes, lightly frying the tomatoes.
Transfer the fried vegetables and tomato mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add the finely shredded cabbage. Cover loosely with a lid and simmer over low heat until the cabbage is tender (or leave it semi-crisp—whichever you prefer).
Add the tomatoes, cut into small pieces, to the almost finished borscht. Taste the borscht for salt and add more if needed. Return the pieces of meat, having first removed the bone. Cook until fully cooked, seasoning with bay leaves at the end.
Let the finished borscht sit on a warm stovetop to steep. Reheat before serving. Serve hot, with sour cream, herbs, and garlic. Enjoy!
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as one collective farmer to another
It's not Ukrainian at all. It lacks the most important ingredient: sugar beet, which gives it a sweet and sour taste.
Irina
I've never eaten or seen a recipe for borscht with sugar beets. And where does the sweet and sour taste come from, I wonder? The sourness is from the tomato paste and tomatoes, and the sweetness is from the brown (red) beets.
Igor
You'll never make a tasty soup—be it borscht or any other—with pork broth. It won't have the right flavor. In the case of borscht, it's all about beef.
Larisa
When stewing beets, I add a little sugar and lemon juice. And just yesterday I learned that in the Cherkasy region they add dried pears to borscht!
Zhanna
Is this Ukrainian borscht? Absolutely not! And where are the white beans? My grandmother always added beans to borscht. And also, they put the potatoes in big chunks, right in half a potato. I'm from the Cherkasy region myself, but I've never heard of dried pears in borscht, but a few sour cherry plums, that's for sure. And where's the garlic and lard "mash"? Oh, and the tomatoes, too. They're not boiled in borscht, they should also be in that "fried" mess with onions, carrots, etc.... In short, EVERYTHING IS WRONG!