Ukrainian borscht recipe

A beet soup whose red is locked in by acid, with the beets fried in pork fat before they ever meet the broth.

3 hours and 20 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 400 g beetroot
• 700 g beef short ribs
• 300 g white cabbage
• 300 g potato
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 80 g salo
• 3 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 bunch dill
• 100 g sour cream

How to make Ukrainian borscht

1. Simmer 700 g beef short ribs in 3 litres of water for 2 hours, skimming the foam. Lift the meat out, shred it, keep the broth.
2. Coarsely grate 400 g beetroot. Fry it in 80 g diced salo for 10 minutes with 2 tablespoons tomato paste and 2 tablespoons vinegar. The acid is what keeps the soup red instead of brown.
3. In the same fat, sweat 1 chopped onion and 1 grated carrot for 8 minutes. This fried base is the smazhennia.
4. Bring the broth back to a boil, add 300 g diced potato and cook 10 minutes, then 300 g shredded cabbage and cook 8 minutes more.
5. Stir in the beetroot smazhennia, the onion and carrot, and the shredded meat. Simmer gently 10 minutes, never at a hard boil.
6. Pound 3 garlic cloves with a pinch of salt and 80 g salo into a paste and stir it in off the heat.
7. Cover and rest 30 minutes before serving. Borscht is better on the second day.
8. Serve hot with chopped dill and a spoon of sour cream.

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