Ukrainian Borsch

Keeping Promise to my international friends I’m publishing this recipe of rich and comforting Ukrainian soup, called borshch. Though many Ukrainians would never call it soup. Borshch is Borshch, not soup. That’s what they would say:-). It requires some work as most of compound soups. But it’s worth it. Traditionally borshch is made on weekend in big pots and eaten for several days. Borshch lovers will tell You that it gets better with every other day of eating. So don’t feel confused, make some borshch in big pot to last You longer. Just bring it to the boil every day of reheating.And I should mention that there are so many recipes of Borshch as Ukrainian women cooking, and each one is the right one:-).

Mine is following:For 3 l soup pot

500 grams of pork bones with meet on them
250 grams of common dry beans (soaked in the water for 8-12 hours)
1 middle-sized beetroot (around 250 grams)3-4 potatoes (about 250 grams)
½ of small cabbage head (about 200 grams)
1 big carrot (about 120-150 grams)1 middle-sized onion
70 grams of tomato concentrate200 ml of sour cream, the best and the most dense you can get1 table spoon of sugar
1 table spoon of vinegarMaking of Borshch consists of several stages or steps.
Vegetable oil for frying1 Step. Making meat and bones broth. Put the bones into the pot, add 4 l of water and simmer gently for about 3 hours. Do not cover with a lid! Do not let it boil, just simmer. Skim and degrease as necessary.
2 Step. Peel and grate the beetroot. Grate the beetroot using the largest holes on a pyramid grater. Heat the dash of oil into a tall pot, add beetroots and sweat them over low heat until soft.3 Step. Strain the beans, put them in the pot, cover with fresh cold water, bring to boil, and cook over low heat until soft.

4 Step. Dice the onions, grate the carrots using the largest holes on a pyramid grater. Heat the oil into frying pan. Add onions, sweat them until soft and add carrots, sauté for about 2 min and add tomato concentrate and half of the sour cream. Mix all together, let it simmer for 2 min more and turn off the heat.

Step 5. Bringing everything together.
Dice potatoes into about 2 cm dice. Slice the cabbage into thin strips. Leave out the rough part of cabbage root.Take the bones out of the broth. Separate bones from meat. Put the meat back to the broth. Place strained cooked beans, beetroots, potatoes and cabbage into the boiling broth.When potatoes are soft, add sugar and vinegar. Add fried onion-carrot mixture and the rest of sour cream. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat off. Cover with lid and let it stay for 15 min before serving.
Serve it with dollop of sour cream (You may use lean sour cream) and chopped parsley and dill. Traditionally borshch is served with garlic buns called pampushky. But nowadays it’s mostly served without them. Enjoy!!