How to Make the Ukrainian Borscht

Borscht is the key recipe in the Ukrainian culture. It is much more than a cabbage stew. It is the breath of Ukraine itself.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Water- 3 Liters
• Beet- 1/4 of a single medium beet
• Dried beans- 1/2 cup
• Meat-any variety, preferably chicken-1 lb.
• Potatoes-3 to 4 medium
• Salt
• Onion-1/2 medium
• Carrot-1 medium
• Red pepper-1/3 large
• Cabbage-1/4 of head
• Fresh dill
• Parsley
• Garlic-1 clove
• Tomato paste-3 to 4 tbsp.
• Ground black pepper-1/2 tsp.
• Vegetable oil-4 to 5 tbsp.
• Total time-about 1hr. 30 min.

1. Immerse beans in water, preferably overnight or at least for two hours.

2. Immerse the meat in water for 3-4 hours. This process gets rid of the blood. Rinse.

3. Cut up the meat into pieces. Cut up the beet into thin strips. Cut up the potatoes into medium sized cubes. About 4-6 pieces per one potato.
   Cut the cabbage into thin strips. Crush the garlic clove.

4. Boil water in a pot. Add beans and meat.

5. When the beans are becoming tender, add potato pieces. Add salt to taste.

6. Separately, simmer the onion, red pepper and carrot on a skillet with oil. When done, add tomato paste and cook for ten more minutes until turning golden. Keep stirring continuously.

7. The skillet mixture is poured into the pot. Add the cut cabbage.
   Heat until boiling point. Boil for about three minutes. At the same time, add parsley and dill, about two tablespoons total. Turn off the heat.

8. Add the garlic and ground pepper. Add more salt if needed. Mix all the ingredients and cover for about one hour. (Don't open the pot!)
   Let the taste and the aroma become richer!!!

Tips & Warnings

• If you prefer a more sour taste, add more tomato paste.
• Salt and pepper are best to be poured out on a spoon, and from the spoon into the pot. Caps can fall off, resulting in an avalanche of that ingredient.
• To make this recipe even better, boil fresh tomatoes and add into the skillet mixture, instead of the tomato paste.
• Keep the borscht covered during the process.
• Make heat higher if not cooking fast enough. Not all stoves are the same.
• If you like thicker consistencies, add more of each ingredient.
• Make sure that the ingredients in the pot (potato, beans) aren't overdone.
• Make sure the cabbage doesn't get overdone.

[devchonachka]

on 11/17/2007 Tramonti, lol, that was funny...to say the least, pig's blood?! I am so happy that I could clear up this tiny misconception! Please let me know how it goes:) And remember...sometimes it takes more than one try to get it right!!! Best of luck.

[Tramonti]

on 11/17/2007 This actually sounds like something I am going to try! Wow. Here's how dumb I am. I seriously thought Borscht included, like, pig blood or something like that! I promise I will let you know how it turns out when I make this. It's snowing today, so maybe this week would be a good time to try it! Thanks for the idea!