Ukrainian Borscht
- Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 91
- Protein: 5.6
- Fats: 4.8
- Carbohydrates: 5.7
Almost every housewife or amateur chef can easily cook the dish we’re going to show you today. Our current issue is Ukrainian Borscht. Ukrainian cuisine is largely associated with this specific soup. Ukrainian Borscht recipe is usually passed through generations from a mother to a daughter so it’s no surprise that Ukrainians abroad sometimes dream of good old mother’s Borscht. The interesting thing is, almost every region of Ukraine has its own particular Borscht recipe.
Furthermore, some culinary connoisseur say that Borscht may be Ukrainian or Russian. So, today we present you the article with recipe of this delicious dish. We’ll highlight the origin of the soup, the healthy features of the red borscht and show you how to cook a classic Ukrainian borscht with meat.
The origin of Borscht
Borscht recipe is the essential part of any book on Ukrainian cuisine. It’s thought that borscht is the first dish based on meat or mushroom broth. Borscht to Ukrainians means quite the same as cabbage soup (‘’shchi’') to Russians. But everyone nows that almost every eastern slavic nation is acquitted with this dish and consumes it rather often. It was first cooked in Kievan Rus which means that it was somewhere around Kiev, the capital. As a result, the dish was later referred to as both Ukrainian and Belorussian.
Now it’s time to talk both what an original Ukrainian Borscht recipe is. First of all, it has to be red and hot. But don’t forget that borscht varies depending on the region you're eating it. In the southern Ukraine, it’s boiled with millet and buckwheat, and in the west they basically do not add half of the ingredients, instead they make soup more liquid and some fresh juice of cherries and apples. Concerning meat, it was barely put into the soup earlier since it was hardly affordable for a usual countryman. As a result, borscht, its ingredients and calories are never the same just as its taste. That’s how interesting and delicious our borscht is.
Now it's time to learn more about the ingredients of this dish and figure out what is the borscht dressing and what it's made of, and most importantly, how it’s cooked. Borscht dressing is a blend of vegetable ingredients that require thermal pretreatment. As you might have already noticed, these include beets, carrots, onion and tomato filling, preferably those homemade. In addition to the dressing, the borscht requires potatoes, cabbage and various spices and herbs. And, of course, don’t forget about meat or, if you like, mushrooms which make your some much more nourishing.
The healthy features of Borscht
Now, let’s talk about the benefits for your health when you consume this dish. Although everyone knows that the first courses are not as good and healthy as others, we’ll present a few arguments in favor of a borsch:
- All the ingredients of borsch constitute a surprising combination with each other and the result is a perfectly balanced dish. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates are combined in a really great way. With this composition, soup can be perfectly absorbed and brings maximum benefit to your health;
- Do not forget that vegetables is a powerful source of vitamins and minerals;
- Many people still believe that hot broths are rather healthy. The main argument here is the example of Asian centenarians that silly can’t live without them;
- Borscht cleans your body of toxins, and thus we’re getting healthier, it even has anti-aging effect.
Now we know everything about the history and the healthy features of Ukrainian Borscht, we just want to remember that there is one compulsory addition without which Broscht recipe will be incomplete, and that’s small buns with garlic dressing. Because the smell of borsch with garlic buns is one in a million! If you want to know how to make them, you can easily find it on our website. For now, let's just figure out how to cook Borscht. So, just follow our recipe!
The list of ingredients you need to cook Borscht
- 1 kg of pork
- 100 oz. of water for 200 oz. casserole (pan)
- 3 beetroots
- 2 carrots
- 6 potatoes
- an onion
- 1/4 of white cabbage
- 25 oz. of tomato juice
- a tablespoon of sugar
- some herbs
- salt and pepper
Mind that the quantity of aforementioned ingredients may vary according to your personal preferences on the density of the soup. Our soup is going to be a bit thick, full of meat and vegetables.
How to cook a Borscht:
- Prepare all the necessary ingredients;
First, prepare all the products you need.
- Then pour 67-68 oz. of water in the casserole and put it on a heat;
Take a pan with water and put it on a heat.
- Put the large pieces of pork meat in the water;
Low fat pieces of meat go in the pan.
- Cut the cabbage into strips.
Cut the cabbage into strips.
- Then put the cut beetroot into the deep bowl and combine with sugar;
Put the strips of beetroot into the bowl with sugar.
- Now cover the bowl with a lid and leave for 15 minutes.
Cover it with a lid and leave for 15 minutes.
- With a spoon, remove the foam from the surface of the broth.
Don’t forget to remove the foam from the broth.
- Once you did it, keep cooking the meat for 20 more minutes.
After removing it, cook for 20 more minutes.
- Now, it’s time for the vegetables. Pour the vegetable oil into the stewpot.
Pour the vegetable oil into the deep stewpot.
- Once the oil boils, add some diced onion;
The onion should fried until it becomes transparent.
- Now add the strips of carrot;
Add some carrot to the freed onion.
- Some minutes later, add beetroots and its juice to the pan.
When you feel the smell of carrot it’s time to add some beetroot with juice.
- Then pour the necessary amount of tomato juice and or sauce.
Pour some tomato juice in the stewpot and mix it.
- Do not forget to salt and season the vegetables;
Add some salt and season with spices.
- Then, cover a saucepan with lid and cook for at least 20 minutes;
The pan should be covered, cook for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, let’s move on to potatoes. It must be cut into medium-sized cubes and poured into the main pot;
Cut potatoes into cubes and add to the pan with the boiling broth.
- Cook potatoes for just 20 minutes because that's the time needed for the preparation of the vegetable filling;
Cook potatoes for the same time as you need for the dressing.
- After 20 minutes, add the shredded cabbage to the soup;
Now you should add some sliced cabbage.
- Do not forget to add the stewed vegetables to the soup;
It's necessary to add the ready-made dressing.
- As a result, your borscht should look like in the picture, add some boiling water to the pot, if necessary;
You should get the soup just as on our photo. If the pan is not full, top up with boiling water.
- Shred some herbs and add to the soup. Let it boil for 5 minutes, then add salt and spices, if necessary.
Add some chopped herbs with salt and pepper. Leave it boiling for at least 5 minutes.
- Your Borscht is now ready! If you want it to get really Ukrainian, complement it with some black bread, a slice of lard and garlic.
Ready-made Ukrainian Borscht is better served with lard, black bread and, of course, a tiny bit of garlic.
So, that’s it, we’ve shown you how to cook a perfect borscht quickly and tasty. We hope that you and your family will enjoy every spoon of it! We’re looking forward to your original recipes of borscht. Bon Appetite! Always yours, HozOboz.
