Borshch (Borscht, Borsch) is the famous all over the world Ukrainian food. It is the vegetable soup with red beets that usually includes more than 10 ingredients. Borshch (Borscht) and Varenyky are well known symbols of Ukrainian cuisine.
Borshch is the everyday and ritual dish in Slavic cuisine . It is known from early Kyiv Rus times but it was prepared by Slavic people much more time ago. Everyday Borshch is simpler and consists of less number of ingredients. It could be prepared on meat broth or fish broth or just vegetable broth. Ukrainian people added stewed onion with some fat and meshed garlic to everyday Borshch. On holidays and Sundays it was served with the sour cream.
Special was the ritual Borshch that was made for weddings and funerals. The whole process of preparing this very symbolic dish was like magic.
Borshch is so very special Ukrainian dish that means to Ukrainian people a lot. For example, in Washington, USA, on March 6, 1953, the waitress at the restaurant “1203” Eileen Keenan was inviting everyone to enjoy “Free Borshch” in celebration of the Soviet Union’s dictator Joseph Stalin‘s death.
There are different types of Borshch and the way to prepare it differs from region to region and in every family there is a unique recipe. There are three main types of Borshch. The first is the real Ukrainian Borshch that is the most popular. The second is Green Borshch that is made on Spring and Summer when there are new plants. And the last is Cold Borshch also known like Holodnyk that is made usually during hot summer and it is served cold.
There are a lot of different ingredients added to Borshch but the most common were broth, red beets, cabbage, carrot, mushrooms, beans, onion, garlic and Beet Kvass. People got used to add potato to Borshch from XIX century because there was no potato in Ukraine before this time. Also in ancient times no tomatoes or acids were added. In Borshch was added homemade Beet Kvass that is very healthy and tasty beverage.
In fact Ukrainian cuisine is so great that is famous all over the world. For example, in Japan healthy, nutrient and light dishes are widely spread and Ukrainian vegetable soup Borshch with sour cream becomes more and more popular.
By the way, the Ukrainian red beetroot soup Borshch (Borscht, Borsch) will be added to the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the UN specialized agency UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
The real Ukrainian Borshch
- for Borshch take clean filtered or natural water
- prepare all vegetables in low heat in pot with closed lid
- beets can be stewed separately with a little amount of Beet Kvass and vegetable oil before adding the broth. Then put them to all other ingredients in 10 minutes before the end of cooking
- the best meat for Borshch is fat beef with bones
- usually in Borshch dried white mushrooms are added but You can take any other dried mushrooms
- the whole red pepper not cut can be put in broth at the beginning of cooking and removed at the end before serving
- garlic can also be meshed with a slice of fat bacon and added to the prepared Borshch
Ingredients:
- beef - 500 g
- dried mushroom - 10 g
- red beet - 200 g
The red beetroot
Energy 180 kJ (43 kcal)
Carbohydrates 9.96 g
– Sugars 7.96 g
– Dietary fiber 2.0 g
Fat .18 g
Protein 1.68 g
Vitamin A equiv. 2 μg (0%)
Thiamine (vit. B1) .031 mg (3%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) .027 mg (2%)
Niacin (vit. B3) .331 mg (2%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) .145 mg (3%)
Vitamin B6 .067 mg (5%)
Folate (vit. B9) 80 μg (20%)
Vitamin C 3.6 mg (4%)
Calcium 16 mg (2%)
Iron .79 mg (6%)
Magnesium 23 mg (6%)
Phosphorus 38 mg (5%)
Potassium 305 mg (6%)
Sodium 77 mg (5%)
Zinc .35 mg (4%) - beet kvass - 100 ml
Beet Kvass is very ancient and traditional Ukrainian naturally fermented beverage. It has been known very well since Kyiv Rus and was added to borshch, soups, stews and salads. It is also a very good drink.
The Recipe of Beet Kvass from Etnocook https://etnocook.com/beet-kvass/ - cabbage - 200 g
- carrot - 100 g
- onion - 75 g
- garlic - to taste
- spicy red pepper - 1
- dried beans - 50 g
- water - 4000 ml
- salt - to taste
Salt is a mineral substance composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl)
Salt is present in most foods, but in naturally occurring foodstuffs such as meats, vegetables and fruit, it is present in very small quantities. It is often added to processed foods to make their flavour more appealing and is also present at higher levels in preserved foods.
In many East Asian cultures, salt is not traditionally used as a condiment.In its place, condiments such as soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce tend to have a high sodium content and fill a similar role to table salt in western cultures. They are most often used for cooking rather than as table condiments.
Table salt is made up of just under 40% sodium by weight, so a 6 g serving (1 teaspoon) contains about 2,300 mg of sodium.
Sodium serves a useful purpose in the human body: it helps nerves and muscles to function correctly, and it is one of the factors involved in the autoregulation of water content (fluid balance).[49] Most of the sodium in the Western diet comes from salt
Too much sodium is bad for health, and health organizations generally recommend that people reduce their dietary intake of salt. High salt intake is associated with a significantly greater risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease in susceptible people. In adults and children with no acute illness, a decrease in the intake of sodium from the typical high levels reduces blood pressure and provides a health benefit, and a low salt diet results in an even greater improvement in blood pressure in those with hypertension than in those without. A reduction in salt intake of 5 g per day has been found to be associated with a 23% reduction in the rate of stroke and a 17% reduction in the rate of total cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization recommends that all adults should consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium (5 g of salt) per day. A 2013 report from the Institute of Medicine states that there is insufficient evidence to show that there is any additional benefit in lowering sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day.
- sugar - to taste
Sugar is the generalized name for a class of chemically-related sweet-flavoured substances: carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
- sour cream - to taste
Sour cream is a dairy product obtained by fermenting a regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria
- black pepper - to taste
- bay leaf - 2
Bay leaf (plural bay leaves) refers to the aromatic leaves of several plants used in cooking.
- dill - to taste
Instructions:
1.
Prepare all ingredients for Borshch, bowls, plates and utensils. Wash and peel vegetables.
2.
In two deep bowls put separately dried beans and dried mushrooms, add water to the top level to cover ingredients and leave them for 4 hours (During this time the broth would be preparing).
3.
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Wash the fat meat with bones, put in a large pot and fill with four litters of cold water, bring on high heat to a boil, reduce to a small fire and cook for about 2 hours, all the while removing the broth foam from the top. Then separate the meat from the bones, cut into portions pieces and put them in a separate plate, bone broth cook with bones on low heat for another 2 hours. At the end of the cooking broth should be 2-2.5 litters, which means it reduces by half. Strain the ready broth through cheesecloth, take out the bones. Wash the pot, put the clean broth into clean pot and make a low heat.
4.
Cut the onion into two pieces and put one piece into warm frying pan for two-three minutes.
5.
Put the fried onion in the Broth for special flavour at the beginning of preparing Borshch.
6.
Drain the water and put wet beans in broth, prepare on low heat.
7.
Cut red beet by segments and then by straws.
8.
Put cut red beets in broth in 15 minutes after beans.
9.
Cut carrot in slices and then in small pieces.
10.
Add cut carrot to all other ingredients in pot in 5 minutes after beet.
11.
Drain the water and cut wet mushrooms in small pieces.
12.
Add mushrooms to Borshch in 15 minutes after carrot.
13.
Chop cabbage into slices and then in squares.
14.
Put chopped cabbage in Borshch in 5 minutes after mushrooms.
15.
Thinly slice cooked beef and then cut in little cubes.
16.
Add meat to Borshch in 15 minutes after cabbage.
17.
Take onion and bay leaf from Borshch. Add garlic, red pepper, salt and sugar to taste. Cook all ingredients 15 minutes on low heat.
18.
Add Beet Kvass to Borshch. Switch off heat, close the pot and put in warm place for 1 hour.
19.
Serve Portion of Borshch in a clay pot.
20.
Cut dill. Serve cooked Ukrainian Borshch with dill and sour cream.
1 ingredients for borshch: Red Beets, Cabbage, Meat with bones, Dried Mushrooms, Dried Beans, Carrot, Onion, Garlic, Sour Cream, Green Dill
2 In two deep plates put separately dried beans and dried mushrooms, add water to the top level to cover ingredients and leave them for 4 hours
3 make the broth for borshch, , strain it through cheesecloth, take out the bones
4 cut the onion into two pieces and put one piece into warm frying pan for two-three minutes
5 put the fried onion in the Broth for special flavour
6 add beans in broth
7 cut red beets for borshch
8 put cut beets in borshch
9 cut carrot in small pieces
10 put cut carrot in borshch
11 cut wet mushrooms in small pieces
12 add mushrooms to Borshch
13 chop cabbage
14 put cabbage in Borshch
15 cut meat to little slices
17 take off onion
Add meat to Borshch
