Ukrainian Borscht with Pork

Borsch is not just a popular, but a legendary dish of Ukrainian cuisine. However, as many regions and regions exist in Ukraine, there are as many varieties of this dish. At the same time, the basic principles of cooking real Ukrainian borscht are unshakable!

Summary

Ingredients

• Meat (pork) – 500-600 grams
• Potatoes – 2-3 pcs. medium size
• Beets – 1 pc. big size
• Carrots – 1 pc.
• Cabbage – 300 grams
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Lard – 30-50 grams
• Greens (dill or parsley)
• Dried celery root – 1.5-2 teaspoon
• Tomato paste – 2 tablespoons
• Vinegar – 2 tablespoons
• Ground black pepper – to taste
• Salt to taste
• Allspice peas – 5 pcs.
• Bay leaf – 3 pcs.

Instructions

1. Wash the meat, cut it into pieces, and send it to cook in a saucepan. Add to it the peeled onion, dried celery root (can be replaced with fresh), allspice peas, bay leaf. Pour in water and place the broth on the stove.

   

2. When the meat is almost done, remove the onion and discard it from the saucepan. And add chopped potatoes and grated carrots to the broth, which must be peeled and washed beforehand.

   

3. Peel the beets, wash and grate. How to prepare beets for Ukrainian borscht, there are several recipes. I suggest sautéing the beets for 10-15 minutes with the addition of broth, vinegar, or citric acid. This will allow the vegetable to retain its bright original color, which will allow the borscht not to be “faded”. In addition, vinegar will add a pleasant and piquant sourness to the dish. When stewed in this way, beets will become soft on the inside and hard on the outside. As for me, this is a very tasty effect.

   

4. After completing all these stages of preparation, send the beets to boil in the broth and take up the cabbage, which is washed and finely chopped. The original borscht recipe includes white cabbage. However, there is borscht made from sauerkraut or other cabbage. For example, in modern cooking, you can add Brussels sprouts, savoy cabbage. Therefore, you can use the cabbage that you like best. When the cabbage is ready, send it to boil in a saucepan.
5. At the end of cooking Ukrainian borscht, be sure to add finely chopped herbs, tomato paste and garlic and lard squeezed through a press. Also, salt and pepper the dish. By the way, there is an opinion that if you salt the broth at the beginning of cooking, you can get an excellent broth, since salt promotes the release of juices, but in this case, the process of cooking products will be slowed down. If you add salt to the borscht at the end, the meat will be very tender. So choose here for yourself. If you want to get a good broth, then salt the dish at the beginning of cooking, if you prefer tender and tasty meat, then at the end.

   

6. When all the products are ready, remove the pan from the stove and let the borscht brew for about 10 minutes, then pour it into bowls and start your meal. Ukrainian borsch, the recipe of which I told you, turns out to be thick, satisfying, and aromatic.
   Bon Appetit everyone!