A Ukrainian Mother's Borscht

Tretyak Variation: Extra Collagen, and Grandpa Nickolai's Last Minute Cabbage Hack

Broth

Broth Ingredients:

~12-14 (~3-4L) Cups of Water

3-4lbs of Beef

Beef Shank - Wonderful, but not recommended as only beef. Adds wonderful collagen and marrow flavor and umami for the broth

Short Ribs - Wonderful, especially when paired with beef shank. If you can find those block-cut pieces, you're looking at a Borscht goldmine

Beef Chuck - Perfectly fine if you want a lighter broth with less collagen

3-4lbs of Chicken

Chicken Leg Quarters - Gold. Cheap. Delicious. Just do it.

Chicken Drumsticks or Thighs - Perfectly fine.

Chicken Breast - Doable, if you want a healthier version.

Pork - No. Borscht doesn't use a pork broth. It is law.

Veggies, Herbs, and Spices for Broth

2 Onions - Yellow is good. I like using 1 yellow and 1 white, but 2 yellow is good. Just don't do 2 white onions

1 Cellery Stick

~20g Black Peppercorns

~3 Bay Leaves

~30g Kosher Salt

1 Garlic Bulb

Instructions for Broth

Fill large pot with 12-14 cups of water. Make sure you use a larger pot for all the ingredients
While water is cold or cool, put in your meat base and veggies, herbs, and spices
Bring to boil. Leave for 2-3 hours. Aim for a normal boil - Not a simmer, not a rolling boil (like ramen)

Broth Purification and Care

Here is a list of important tips to keep your broth delicious:

Skim off nasty remnants from meet, especially during the first 30 minutes of boiling
- Pro Tip: Just use a spoon. It's honestly not much.
Filter the broth before you put the sauté in. You can do this by:
- Running the broth through a fine mesh
- Using a fine skimmer (our preferred method)
DISCARD the onion, garlic pieces, pepper, celery, etc. once the broth is done; BEFORE you put in the sauté
KEEP only the meat, the broth, and any marrow you find floating around

The Sauté

Sauté Ingredients

4 tbsp Butter (1/2 a Stick)

1 Large (~200-250g) Yellow Onion

1-2 (~200g) Red Bell Peppers, Diced

4-5 (~650g) Beets, Grated

2-3 (~300g) Carrots, Grated

4-6 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

40-50g Tomato Paste

Olive Oil

Prep

While the broth is cooking, prepare the ingredients for the Sauté to make your life easier:

Peel Potatoes, Beets, and Carrots (Keep Potatoes Separate)
Grate Beets and Carrots (Keep Together)

These are both rather time consuming.

Sauté Instructions

Begin when broth is just about done or done.

Pan Medium to High
Olive Oil - Light coat on pan. Make sure the oil gets hot
Sauté Onion and Bell Pepper First - Wait for onion to have some transparency and softness to it (~5 min)
Add Graded Beets, Carrots, Garlic, and Butter - Cook about 6-8 min or so; until softened
Add Tomato Paste - Mix. Maybe 1-2 Min
Done? Add to Broth

Potato

Cube 3-5 (~500g) Potatoes

Thank potato for being such a glorious, highly-caloric thing.

Throw into broth with sauté.

So easy. Don't you wish all of the things in your life were like a potato? Yes. Yes you do.

Cabbage and Simmer

You've done the work. Time to simmer and relax.

Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Add 1/2-3/4 a Head of a Large Cabbage
- Cut in slices, then cut those slices once or twice
Simmer Another 5-10 Minutes
- This is the Nickolai Method - Grandpa Nickolai loved some crisp in his cabbage, so we always added it in juuuuuuust before it was done.
Shut Off Stove and Add 15g of Dill and 15g of Parsley
Serve with Sour Cream and Existential Crisis

Final Thoughts:

Borscht improves overnight; leftovers are gold.

Reject anyone who rejects sour cream: your life doesn't need that negativity.

If your hands look like you've committed a murder after grating the beets, just make sure you don't have any pesky landladies in your life and you should be golden. Or get yourself a Sonia. Always get yourself a Sonia, if you can.

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