Homemade Ukrainian Borscht with Pork Ribs
⏳ Time
2 hours
🥕 Ingredients
15
🍽️ Servings
12
Description
This recipe is designed for a 4.5-liter pot, and it yields a generous amount. It’s enough to feed a large family for 2 to 3 hearty meals.
Ingredients
- Potato - 2 pieces
- Onion - 3 pieces
- Carrot - 3 pieces
- Beetroot - 8.8 oz
- White Cabbage - 17.6 oz
- Lard - 7.1 oz
- Garlic - 1 head
- Pork Skewers - 17.6 oz
- Orange Bell Peppers - 1 piece
- Tomatoes - 3 pieces
- Passata Tomato Sauce - 7.1 oz
- Herbs - 1 bunch
- Safflower Oil - 1 fl oz
- Salt - to taste
- Ground Black Pepper - to taste
Step by Step guide
Step 1
An hour before the main cooking process, place a pot filled two-thirds with water on the heat. First, add the meat (I recommend cutting the meat into portions right away). Next, add a small peeled onion and a small peeled carrot. Season with salt—one teaspoon of salt for every 4 liters of water; it's better to under-season than to over-season! While we prepare the sauté, the meat will start to boil and cook. Cover the pot with the lid, leaving a small gap to prevent overflow.
Step 2
To simplify the cooking process, after the meat is on the heat and waiting for its moment, I prepare all the other ingredients for the borscht. I peel: 2 large onions, 2 large carrots, 1 beetroot, 2 potatoes (I'm personally not a fan of potatoes in borscht, but if you like them, you can peel more; just make sure to place them in cold water after peeling, otherwise they will turn black), 1 bell pepper, and 1 head of garlic (for quickly peeling garlic — cut off the tip of the head so that all the cloves have their ends trimmed, place it in a container or pot with a tight lid, and shake it well — after 20 to 30 seconds of shaking, the garlic usually comes apart).
Step 3
Place the frying pan on the heat, setting it to 7 out of 9 possible levels (you get the idea). While it heats up, cut the lard into thin elongated pieces, about 2–2.5 mm thick; the length isn't important. Once the lard is sliced, pour a little oil into the frying pan. While the oil heats up, finely chop the garlic (not into a paste, but smaller than a clove - definitely). When the oil is hot, to avoid splattering, take the pan off the heat, and after 15 seconds, add the lard - all the lard you’ve cut, not for eating yet! Return it to the heat and render the fat from the lard.
Step 4
While the lard is melting (don't forget to stir it), chop the onion. I love onion, so I cut it into quarter rings, slicing them about 1 mm thick, but you can also dice them if you prefer. Once you've finished shedding tears from the onion, the lard should have turned into cracklings, little wrinkled, golden-brown croutons. Remove them from the skillet, leaving as much rendered fat behind as possible. Set them aside for later.
Step 5
Reduce the heat to 6 out of 9 and add the garlic. It will quickly seize and start to brown, so be sure to stir for about 30–40 seconds until it's ready. Now, immediately add the previously chopped onion and mix well.
Step 6
I grate the carrots and beetroot; some say that grating can cause a lot of juice to be lost, which is bad. I don’t worry too much about it and just grate. From experience, I can say that it doesn't make a significant difference, aside from the size of the vegetable pieces. So, we have grated/sliced the carrots and beetroot (all this time, don’t forget to stir the onions in the pan).
Step 7
When the onion becomes translucent and starts to turn golden, add the carrot and stir. The meat should be boiling by now, so skim off the foam from the water in the pot. Cut the potatoes into small, medium, or large pieces, according to your preference (the larger the pieces, the longer they need to cook; I prefer a happy medium), and add the potatoes to the pot with the meat.
Step 8
The onion and carrot have been sautéing for 3–5 minutes; remember to stir them occasionally as the carrot begins to soften. Now, add the beetroot to the mix. Stir everything together and season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Turn on the kettle — we will need boiling water, so let it heat up for now.
Step 9
Slice the red pepper into thin elongated pieces and after 5-7 minutes of frying the beetroot-onion-carrot mixture, add the pepper to it, stirring well (if there isn't enough oil/fat, add a little more to prevent it from burning).
Step 10
Peel the tomatoes by making shallow cross cuts on both ends, just deep enough to pierce the flesh, about 1.5 to 2 mm. Pour boiling water over them and set aside for 3 to 4 minutes. In a blender, add the tomato paste (you can use ketchup or any type you prefer; I always add garlic ketchup in place of half the tomato paste). Also add chopped herbs (dill and parsley). Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and peel off the skin; if some skin remains, it's not a problem. Add the peeled tomatoes to the blender with the other ingredients (don’t forget to stir the sautéed mixture).
Step 11
Turn on the blender and blend everything until you achieve a smooth puree. While this is happening, carefully remove the whole onion and carrot from the broth; we don't need them anymore, so you can discard them. Once the magical tomato puree is ready, pour it over the sautéed vegetables (if it turned out too thick, add some broth from the pot and stir). Cover with a lid and let it simmer for 8–10 minutes. Don’t forget to stir occasionally, or it will stick to the pan.
Step 12
Important: while the sauté is simmering, chop the cabbage. Here, it's also a matter of personal preference; I prefer it finely chopped to avoid large chunks floating in the borscht, but tastes vary. Once you've chopped the cabbage, set it aside and let it wait its turn.
Step 13
Check the potatoes in the broth; if they break apart easily when pierced with a fork, they are ready. If you try to poke them with a fork and they resist, they are still raw. Generally, by this point, they should be partially cooked, which is what we need. Turn off the sauté, and carefully transfer it all, including the liquid, into the pot. On top, add the pre-chopped cabbage, mix well, and set the heat to 4 out of 9. Cover with a lid and let the borscht cook for another 15–20 minutes.
Step 14
Turn off the heat, remove from the stove, and let it steep for about an hour. Serve with sour cream, lard, garlic bread, and for those who like, with cracklings.
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