Ukrainian-style borscht: thick, with cabbage, beans and potatoes, on pork ribs
A borscht that is a dinner in itself: on a pork-rib stock, with cabbage, white beans, potatoes and beetroot stewed separately with tomato paste and vinegar so the soup stays ruby, not brown. Seasoned with garlic, sugar and dill, served with sour cream. Eight servings, and better on the second day than the first.
Your own work in that: 1 h 20 min.
- Beans soaking 720 min
- Stock 60 min
- Vegetables and beetroot 60 min
- Combining and seasoning 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneThe day before: soak the beans
Cover the beans with plenty of cold water and leave 12 hours. Drain in the morning. From a can: skip this step, cook the cabbage and potatoes straight away in the cabbage step, and add the beans for the last 10 minutes.
Ingredients: 150 g white beans · 500 g beetroot · 300 g white cabbage · 400 g potatoes · 2 tbsp tomato paste · 30 g butter · 2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice · 3 cloves garlic · 1 tsp sugar · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 bunch dill · 200 g sour cream, 18 %
A night in waterMake the stock
Cover the ribs with water, bring to the boil, skim. Add the vegetables, onion, bay leaves, allspice and salt. Simmer 60 minutes. Lift out the meat and vegetables; pick the meat off the bones and chop it, slice the carrot, discard the rest. Strain the stock.
Ingredients: 600 g pork ribs · 2500 ml water · 2 pcs carrots · 1 pcs parsley root · 1 pcs celeriac, a piece · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs bay leaves · 5 pcs allspice berries · 2 tsp salt
An hour on ribs and root vegetablesStew the beetroot separately
Peel and coarsely grate the beetroot. Melt the butter in a pan, add the beetroot, tomato paste, vinegar and 3 spoons of stock. Stew covered 15 minutes. The acid fixes the colour: beetroot dropped straight into the soup would quickly turn brown.
TipThis is the most important step of this borscht. The beetroot must meet acid before it meets the soup pot. Without vinegar and tomato paste the borscht comes out pale and brownish.
Beetroot with vinegar and tomato paste, separatelyCook the cabbage, potatoes and beans
Shred the cabbage, cut the potatoes into 1.5 cm dice. Add the soaked beans to the strained stock and cook 40 minutes, then add the cabbage and potatoes and cook another 20 minutes, until the beans and potatoes are tender. If the beans are still firm, keep cooking — once the vinegared beetroot goes in they will not soften any further. Add the meat and carrot.
Beans first, then cabbage and potatoesCombine and season
Pour the stewed beetroot into the soup, add the crushed garlic, sugar and pepper. Bring to the boil and cook 5 minutes, no longer: long cooking after the beetroot goes in takes the colour away. Taste: borscht should be sweet-sour and clearly salty; add vinegar or sugar.
Beetroot last, five minutes, no longerServe with sour cream
In bowls, with a spoon of sour cream and plenty of dill, with bread. Keeps 4 days in the fridge; reheat only what you will eat, so the whole pot isn't boiled several times.
Sour cream, dill, bread
Before you start
On beef
600 g beef brisket instead of ribs and a 90-minute stock: darker and richer. In Ukraine borscht is made on both pork and beef.
With pepper and tomatoes
Half a red pepper in dice and 2 peeled tomatoes with the beetroot in the pan: in summer, with early beetroot, sweeter and lighter.
Meat-free
Vegetable stock with 4 dried mushrooms instead of ribs; keep the butter. The borscht is lighter then, but still thick with beans and cabbage.
