Name: Ukrainian Borsch
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Ukrainian
Ingredients: 700 g Beef brisket on the bone; 3 l Water; 500 g Beetroot; 400 g Potatoes; 300 g White cabbage; 150 g Carrot; 150 g Onion; 2 tbsp Tomato paste; 4 tbsp Sunflower oil; 1 tbsp White wine vinegar; 1 tsp Caster sugar; 4 cloves Garlic cloves; 2 leaves Bay leaves; 1 tsp Whole black peppercorns; 20 g Fresh dill; 2 tsp Fine sea salt; 150 g Sour cream, to serve

About this dish

Borsch is the central dish of Ukrainian cooking, inscribed by UNESCO on its list of intangible heritage in urgent need of safeguarding. It has been cooked since at least the sixteenth century, and every family makes it differently: with beans in Poltava, with dumplings in Galicia, green in spring. Only two things never change — beetroot for the colour, and something sour to hold that colour. Borsch was never one recipe; it was a way of feeding a household from whatever the land gave that month.

Gluten-free
Not vegetarian because of Beef brisket on the bone
Contains dairy because of Sour cream, to serve

Ingredients

6servings

700gBeef brisket on the bone
3lWater
500gBeetroot
400gPotatoes
300gWhite cabbage
150gCarrot
150gOnion
2tbspTomato paste
4tbspSunflower oil
1tbspWhite wine vinegar
1tspCaster sugar
4clovesGarlic cloves
2leavesBay leaves
1tspWhole black peppercorns
20gFresh dill
2tspFine sea salt
150gSour cream, to serve

Instructions

Cover the brisket with 3 litres of cold water, bring to the boil and skim the foam thoroughly. Add the bay and peppercorns, cover loosely and simmer as gently as possible for 2 hours. Lift out the meat, pull it from the bone and cut into pieces; strain the broth.
120 min
Tip: Start meat in cold water. Hot water seizes the proteins instantly and gives you a cloudy broth you can never clear.
Cut the beetroot into fine matchsticks. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, add the beetroot, pour in the vinegar and add the sugar. Cover and stew over low heat for 40–45 minutes until tender, adding half a ladle of broth whenever it looks dry.
45 min
Tip: The vinegar goes in with the beetroot at the start, not into the pot at the end. Acid fixes the betanin — that is why borsch stays crimson instead of turning brown.
Dice the onion and grate the carrot. Heat the remaining oil and fry for 6 minutes until soft. Add the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more, until it darkens and loses its raw, sharp smell.
12 min
Tip: The paste has to be cooked in fat. Dropped into the broth raw, it leaves a harsh metallic edge.
Bring the broth and meat back to the boil. Add the diced potatoes, then the shredded cabbage 5 minutes later. Cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but still hold their shape.
15 min
Tip: Cabbage follows potatoes because it cooks in half the time. Added together, it collapses into rags.
Add the stewed beetroot and the fried onion and carrot to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then immediately drop the heat. Salt it, taste, and balance: borsch should be sweet and sour at once — add a pinch more sugar or a few drops of vinegar as needed.
10 min
Tip: From here on, never let it boil hard. A rolling boil with beetroot in the pot is the fastest way to lose the colour.
Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt and stir it in with half the dill. Take off the heat, cover, and let it stand at least 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream and the rest of the dill.
20 min
Tip: Borsch is not good straight off the stove. Twenty minutes covered is the minimum, and real borsch is eaten the next day.