Borsch is a regional dish of southern Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, as well as Poland and Lithuania. Therefore, we can safely say that the recipes for borscht on earth are like stars in the sky, and each hostess presents it in her own way. Discussing the topic of how to cook borscht does not make sense. You can only highlight the most common and important points in its preparation, for example, the preparation of broth and the choice of beets - these components most of all influence the taste and appearance of the dish.
Chicken broth borsch - basic technological principles
Any broth is valued for its richness, affecting the calorie content of the dish and its taste. Real borscht is usually made from beef brisket, “sugar pits” of cattle, because the meat set forms the taste of the dish. This rule was invented many centuries ago, as can be seen by reading the ancient recipes of Slavic cuisine. Everything happens once for the first time, and then becomes the norm, so let's see what can be made from an economical set of products, given the difference in price between selected beef, pork and cheaper poultry meat. At the same time, we will find out how Poltava borsch differs from Petersburg borsch, south Russian borsch - from Kiev borsch.
An ideal variant of chicken meat for borscht is an old domestic rooster, of good fatness, on the carcass of which fat is clearly visible. Homemade chicken or rooster can only be bought on the market. At the poultry farm - also high-quality broilers, but they are grown in cages, with artificial lighting, without free-range, and this greatly affects the quality of meat. The only consolation is the abundance of cheap product on all counters. But from such a bird one can get medium quality broth, and only by lucky chance can one find small pale yellow balls of chicken fat, which cannot be compared with the amber film obtained after cooking poultry.
What can be done to improve the quality of broth from factory chickens? For three liters of full broth you will need a carcass weighing at least two kilograms. A whole carcass can be replaced with chicken legs, wings, and backs — in these parts there are suitable bones, from which, in fact, a good saturated broth is obtained. From the breast, the most dietary part of the chicken, in general, no gain will come out: it is advisable to cook it with the rest of the carcass.
There is another option - the most economical, just a little troublesome: for a good broth, you can buy a kilogram of chicken paws, tar, remove the cornea and cook on the weakest fire, adding chicken fat, which is also sold on the market, alone or with offal. If it is not important that the broth was just chicken, you can combine different types of meat for borscht, but be sure to add a good bone set to it.
Pretreatment of poultry.
Do you think that the purchased frozen carcass of a bird, or wings, legs, thighs, has already been processed and it is enough to wash them? Very mistaken. Rather, they are processed, but not as it should. Compare the farm bird with the broiler in the package, and realize that the smell and color of these two options are noticeably different. Without going into details of the processing of carcasses at poultry farms, we only pay attention to what needs to be done so that such meat has a decent appearance and taste, similar to the meat of domestic chicken:
Having bought frozen or chilled factory poultry in any distribution network, be sure to immerse them in water for at least two hours. During this time, all undesirable additives, which are very often injected by injection, are removed from the carcass to increase shelf life, weight and other benefits;
After soaking, dry the meat with a napkin and be sure to tar it over the flame of the burner. After such a resuscitation, the taste of meat will noticeably improve, and gray foam will not bubble in the broth, which will kill the appetite in advance. If not a whole carcass is bought, but, say, a chicken leg, combine the skin with a skewer, chop the leg with a fork so that it is more comfortable to hold it over the flame and so that the juice does not flow out. After this procedure, wash the meat under the stream, using a brush or a hard sponge, dry it again with a napkin, and you can boil the broth.
Rules of this meat broth
The secret of saturated broth is also in the way of cooking meat. If you put the meat in boiling water, you get juicy meat, and the broth will not make it to the highest grade. Decide on the circumstances: if boiled meat will be used for cooking other dishes, and you need to preserve its juiciness, then immerse it in boiling water, but the bones, in any case, start cooking in cold water.
The second secret of the broth is the addition of roots and spices. In Russian cuisine, there is a wonderful custom - spices and spices are added to the first course twice:
For the first time: parsley, carrot, celery and onion roots, bay leaf, pepper. The roots must be added when the meat is already at the stage of half-ready, and the spices - 7-10 minutes before the end of cooking. Do not forget to strain the broth or get supplements using skimmers.
Add spices for the second time at the very end of borscht cooking: ground (!) Spices - 7-10 minutes until cooked, and spicy greens just boil and immediately remove the pan from the stove. Subject to these rules, the best borsch of all times is guaranteed!
The remaining rules of cooking first courses are well known:
Vegetables in the first dishes are added depending on their density, speed of cooking. For example, cabbage, fresh peppers are added along with parsley and dill, potatoes - after the beets are ready, and carrots, onions and tomatoes - after the potatoes are ready. In this order, there is a need: if the acidic dressing is added to the pot before the potato, it will be hard - the acid increases the cooking time of the potato three times, and the potato is not soaked with broth, even with longer cooking time.
Sour dressing is added after the potatoes, when it becomes soft. The dressing consists of stewed or passaged vegetables - onions, carrots, tomatoes in any form (juice, juice, mashed potatoes, pasta - in South Russian cuisine). The composition of sour dressing for borscht in some regional cuisines (in the northern regions of Russia) includes vinegar, citric acid, leaven (in Poland and Lithuania). Cabbage, spicy greens, lettuce peppers have a very delicate texture. They are added at the very end of cooking, giving them a boil. These vegetables have time to reach readiness, while soup is infused.
About the beetroot, which became the ancestor of the Slavic soup, a few words - separately. This root vegetable largely determines not only the name, but also the color and taste of the dish. Choose varieties with the lowest content of fiber and fiber, they are more juicy, more amenable to heat treatment. Depending on the desired result, you can also pick up beets with different color intensity. For example, Bordeaux’s beetroot is more suitable for making salads and vinaigrettes, if you want the red color of borscht to be achieved not by the root crop, but by tomato dressing, as in the South Russian dish options. For borscht in this case it is necessary to choose lighter, borsch varieties of beets.
Vegetable is added to borsch in raw, baked, stewed and pickled form, beets are added at different stages of cooking, which is also due to the peculiarities of the regional cuisine.
1. South Russian soup in chicken broth, classic
Products:
Chicken broth 3 l
Chicken meat, boiled (pulp) 800 g
Beetroot, borschevaya 140 g
Cabbage 0.5 kg
Potatoes 300 g
Salad pepper 120g
Onions 220 g
Carrots, red 150 g
Refined oil 100 ml
Sugar 35 g
Tomato paste, natural 100 g
Celery (root) 70 g
Salt
Parsley, dill 120 g
Hot pepper, green; bay leaf, a mixture of ground peppers and coriander
Technology Cooking:
How to boil the broth is described in detail in the basic technological principles. Choose the appropriate option.
Throw in the boiling liquid beetroot, previously cleaned and grated on a fine grater. Cover with a lid, and continue to cook, slowly, until the beets are fully digested. As soon as the broth is clarified, throw the potatoes. While the potatoes are boiling, heat the butter in a pan, drop some sugar, then chopped carrots, onions. Bringing vegetables to softness, add tomato paste, diluted with a small amount of broth taken from the pan. Stir fry, simmer until pasta becomes saturated dark red. Put fry in borscht, let it boil. After that, immediately throw the chopped cabbage, lettuce and hot peppers, dill and parsley. Add spices and salt. Close the pan, as soon as the soup boils, and immediately turn off the fire. After half an hour, the dish can be served by putting portions of meat in plates. If desired, you can add sour cream, mustard, garlic sauce.
2. Poltava borscht in chicken broth
Composition of products:
Broth (semi-finished product) 4 l
Peeled potatoes 400 g
Beetroot 300 g
White cabbage 800 g
Onion 350g
Carrots 300 g
Fat (lard) 250 g
Morse, tomato 0,7 l
Dill, parsley 120 g
Salt
Garlic
Bay leaf
Meat (fillet), sour cream, pampushkas - for serving
Method Cooking:
Cut the beetroot into thin straws, stew, adding a small amount of melted pork fat. Put the beets in boiling broth, boil until clarification. Fat chop into small cubes, fry to a ruddy color. Fried pieces can be removed from the pan, or left - on request. Put carrots and onions, chopped into thin straws, into the melted fat. Fry until soft, then pour the tomato juice, simmer until the liquid has evaporated.
After boiling the beets, put the sliced potatoes in a saucepan, cook until soft, add the tomato dressing. When refueling boils, throw chopped cabbage and chopped dill, parsley. Season with spices, add bay leaves, ground red and black pepper, chopped garlic and salt to taste.
Serve the soup after steeping for forty minutes. Put the meat in plates or serve separately. Sour cream and garlic dumplings are served to Poltava borscht.
3. Capital borsch in chicken broth
Products:
Sweet carrots 150 g
Sugar 40g
Beet 300 g
Onion 120g
Oil 120 ml
Vinegar 25 ml
Cabbage 800 g
Tomato paste 125 g
Broth 1.6 l
Potatoes 200 g
Sour cream - to serve
Dill, chopped 80 g
Pepper, black and red, bay leaf, salt
Order cooking:
Fry the beetroot and carrot in butter until soft, tomato paste, vinegar and sugar. Put the vegetables in boiling broth: cabbage, potatoes - in cubes. Boil until potatoes are ready. Season with spices, add salt, bay leaf. Serve with sour cream and fresh chopped dill.
4. Borscht in chicken broth with smoked bacon, beans and prunes
Ingredients:
4.5 liter broth
Celery (stem) 1 pc.
Carrots 300 g
Onion 350g
Oil 150 ml
Parsley 90 g
Pepper, garlic, bay leaf - to taste
Tomatoes 250 g
Cabbage 700 g
Tomato paste 75 g
Bacon 200g
Beet 350 g
Prunes 250 g
White beans, boiled 300 g
Salt
Cooking technology:
Cut the prepared beets into strips, passe until soft, with vegetable oil. Put in a slightly boiling broth, boil until the broth turns yellow.
Smoked bacon, cut into small cubes, fry in a pan, add onions, also cut into cubes, grated carrots, prunes, slices of blanched tomatoes and tomato paste. Transfer the stewed vegetables to the pan, let them boil.
Add the beans, shredded cabbage, greens and finely chopped celery stalk. Season borsch with spices, salt. Remove from heat. Serve after the soup infusions with sour cream.
5. Borscht in chicken broth with chard and “Summer” eggs
Ingredients:
Boiled chicken breast - 100 g per serving
Boiled eggs 7 pcs.
Onions 200g
Cabbage 400 g
Broth 4 l
Chard 400g
Marinated beets 300 g
Coarse salt
Parsley, dill 150 g
Fat 250 g
Potatoes 0.4 kg
Sour cream 250 g
Lemon juice 100 ml
Spice
Cooking:
In the broth, boil the potatoes until soft. Take a portion of the broth and separately boil the marinated beets in it, add lemon juice, sugar, and ground spices.
Finely chopped lard and salted onion, and punch with a blender, until paste forms, which you put into a saucepan with potatoes. Boil for 8-10 minutes, throw cabbage, chard, greens, when the borscht boils, pour the sour pickled beetroot dressing with lemon juice . Try and adjust the taste.
Serving put in each portion of meat, half an egg, serve sour cream.
6. Kiev borsch in chicken broth
Product List:
Beetroot, borschevaya 600 g
Chicken Thigh 550 g
White beans150 g
Sour apples 250 g (net)
Ground pepper
Kvass, beetroot 1,2 l Garlic 15g
Carrot and parsley roots - only 300 g
Celery root 90 g
Onions 210g
Potatoes 360 g
Tomato paste 120 g
White cabbage 0.4 kg
Broth 1.5 l
Lard 180g
Bay leaves
Sour cream (20%) 200 g
Sugar
Salt
Parsley for decoration
Cooking technology:
Combine ready-made chicken broth with beet kvass. Slice vegetables and apples into straws and potatoes into slices. Separately boil the beans. Beet, chopped straw, stew with chicken thighs (1 pc. Per serving), with the addition of tomato puree. Paste the grated roots and onions separately with lard. In the boiling broth lay the prepared components: potatoes, cabbage, beets, stewed with thighs, roots, boiled beans, spices. Boil for 3-5 minutes. When finished, add apples, garlic, spices, sugar, and salt. Serve sour cream separately.
Chicken broth borscht - useful tips
To not beet painted potatoes in burgundy color, it must be stewed in vegetable oil. Adding acid when cooking beets will make the potatoes hard. Sour dressing in all types of soups is added only after the potatoes are ready.
If the soup needs to be heated the next day, do not bring it to a boil. To refresh the taste, add fresh chopped greens.
