Moldavian Borscht

Aromatic and flavorful chicken and vegetable broth is the gem of this recipe. And red pepper, too. Another peculiar detail – this borscht doesn’t call for cabbage, tomatoes and beets. Is this still a borscht? Definitely, this is Moldavian Borscht.

Start with washing whole drawn chicken under running water. Place it in a pot, add carrots, parsley root and onion which you cut in halves. Cover with cold water and quickly bring to a boil. Remove any foam that might appear when the broth starts to boil. Cover with a lid, turn the heat down to low so the broth simmers and leave to cook for 2 hours. Add salt 30 minutes before the broth is done. Take the chicken out of the broth and place in a separate container. Cover with a lid. Take the vegetables out, too and toss them. Strain the broth.

Cut carrots, parsley root and onion into thin strips. Heat bacon fat or butter on a skillet and fry your vegetables on medium heat for 10 minutes. Then add white vinegar and cook for another minute or two until vinegar evaporates.

Measure all purpose flour and fry it on dry skillet on medium heat, constantly stirring. Cool until the flour turns light golden in color. Then add 4 tablespoons of chicken broth, mix well and strain.

Bring the broth back to a boil. Add cubed potatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Then add fried vegetables, flour mix, ground red pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and let your borscht stand for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, separate chicken meat from the bones and cut into bite sized pieces.

When serving the borscht, add a few chicken pieces, sour cream and chopped parsley into every bowl.

You will need

For broth:

• Water – 8 cups
• 1 drawn chicken
• 1 carrot
• ½ parsley root
• 1 yellow onion
• Salt – 1 ½ teaspoon

For borscht:

• 6 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsley root
• ½ yellow onion
• All purpose flour – 1 tablespoon
• Bacon fat or butter – 2 tablespoons
• White vinegar – 1 tablespoon
• 1 pinch of ground red pepper
• Salt – to taste

To serve:

• Sour cream – 4 tablespoons
• Chopped parsley – 4 tablespoons

Options:

1. You can fry flour on a dry skillet and then add it to fried vegetables after you evaporate the vinegar. You can also add ½ chili pepper or another type of hot pepper. Just take all the seeds out and cut it in small half circles. In this case, you might skip adding ground red pepper.
2. You can also add 1 tablespoon of sugar to fried vegetables.

This borscht is also known as: Odessa Borscht