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How to cook Ukrainian borscht
Oct. 16th, 2009 08:43 pmBorscht (also spelled as borsch, borshch or borsht, in Ukrainian: борщ; in Polish: barszcz) is a beetroot-based soup with vegetables which is a part of a national cuisine in many Eastern European countries including but not limited to Ukraine, Poland, Russia and Belarus. Each country has its own unique traditions of cooking the borscht, and the taste is really different in different countries, in the regions of the same country and... well, I'll try to explain it more clearly: there are thousands of recipes and there is no strict standard of how the borscht should taste. Even inside my family there are different borscht cooking traditions and the one cooked by my mother tastes different from the borscht cooked by my grandpa (her father)!
So... in this post I describe how do I prepare (a vegetarian) Ukrainian borscht. Mind, that this is only one of thousands recipes.
Vegetarian? Is borscht a vegetarian?
Well, it depends on how you cook it. Although meat is not a necessary ingredient, most people add meat bullion and meat while cooking. It is also unlikely to find a vegetarian borscht in the restaurants in Ukraine: even if there is no meat in it, it does contain a meat bullion. I'm not a vegetarian, but I hate cooking meat and that's why I'll describe how to cook a vegetarian borscht with eggs. Instead of eggs you may add any meat, fish, mushrooms, well... everything!
Ingredients
My borscht contains potatoes, carrots, onion, beetroot, of course, some paprika and cabbage. Also water and salt. You'll need a soar cream after cooking.
Cooking borscht is not a science, it is an art! That's why no proportions are given, you may vary them as you like.
Step 1. Boiling potatoes and carrots
Potatoes should be cut in this way and put into the big pot with a salted boiling water:
Also you should cut the carrot and put it into a pot. Allow approximately 20 minutes for a potato to be cooking on a small fire.
In the meantime we prepare zazharka (fried vegetables) which is the main ingredient for borscht and defines it's unique taste.
Step 2. Zazharka
Dice the onions:
And fry them:
The onions should be fried until... well until they change the colour to light brown. In the meantime prepare a “ketchup” from the tomatoes:
And the beetroot:
When the onions are ready, first put the tomatoes and wait for some time:
Then the beetroot should be added:
Step 3. Joining zazharka to borshcht
The proportions of tomatoes and beetroot in zazharka defines the taste and the colour of borscht. You may experiment with this freely. So, wait for some time and then... did you forget about the potatoes boiling in the pot? So, add zazharka into the pot, then cut the cabbage and also add it. The borscht is almost ready:
After sometime it will look like completely ready:
You may taste it now and add more salt if needed. What about the proteins? Add some eggs, and it will look like this:
As you may notice, it is now less red, unfortunately.
Step 4: Eat
You may now eat it:
Add a spoon of a sour cream now! All the Ukrainians eat borscht with sour cream, it is more tasty. Also, put the borscht into refrigerator and try it in a day. You'll discover, that it is even more tasty now!
Enjoy your meal!
PS Feel free to correct my (very bad) English.
So... in this post I describe how do I prepare (a vegetarian) Ukrainian borscht. Mind, that this is only one of thousands recipes.
Vegetarian? Is borscht a vegetarian?
Well, it depends on how you cook it. Although meat is not a necessary ingredient, most people add meat bullion and meat while cooking. It is also unlikely to find a vegetarian borscht in the restaurants in Ukraine: even if there is no meat in it, it does contain a meat bullion. I'm not a vegetarian, but I hate cooking meat and that's why I'll describe how to cook a vegetarian borscht with eggs. Instead of eggs you may add any meat, fish, mushrooms, well... everything!
Ingredients
My borscht contains potatoes, carrots, onion, beetroot, of course, some paprika and cabbage. Also water and salt. You'll need a soar cream after cooking.
Cooking borscht is not a science, it is an art! That's why no proportions are given, you may vary them as you like.
Step 1. Boiling potatoes and carrots
Potatoes should be cut in this way and put into the big pot with a salted boiling water:
Also you should cut the carrot and put it into a pot. Allow approximately 20 minutes for a potato to be cooking on a small fire.
In the meantime we prepare zazharka (fried vegetables) which is the main ingredient for borscht and defines it's unique taste.
Step 2. Zazharka
Dice the onions:
And fry them:
The onions should be fried until... well until they change the colour to light brown. In the meantime prepare a “ketchup” from the tomatoes:
And the beetroot:
When the onions are ready, first put the tomatoes and wait for some time:
Then the beetroot should be added:
Step 3. Joining zazharka to borshcht
The proportions of tomatoes and beetroot in zazharka defines the taste and the colour of borscht. You may experiment with this freely. So, wait for some time and then... did you forget about the potatoes boiling in the pot? So, add zazharka into the pot, then cut the cabbage and also add it. The borscht is almost ready:
After sometime it will look like completely ready:
You may taste it now and add more salt if needed. What about the proteins? Add some eggs, and it will look like this:
As you may notice, it is now less red, unfortunately.
Step 4: Eat
You may now eat it:
Add a spoon of a sour cream now! All the Ukrainians eat borscht with sour cream, it is more tasty. Also, put the borscht into refrigerator and try it in a day. You'll discover, that it is even more tasty now!
Enjoy your meal!
PS Feel free to correct my (very bad) English.
