There are no clear rules for making borscht. The dish can be very different, but it should always be tasty.
There are subtleties in the preparation of this soup that many people don’t even know about, but it is on them that the taste and beauty (and the rich color is important) of the borscht depends.
Step One: Broth
The broth plays an important role. It can be cooked with pork, beef, lamb. There are even options with poultry and fish. But in any case, the broth should be rich, aromatic and transparent.
To make a clear broth, you need to put the bones and meat in warm water, bring it to a boil and drain.
Then add new water and cook the broth on it. It is cooked on medium heat.
Vegetables and herbs will help add flavor. Put a whole onion into boiling water, throw in coarsely chopped carrots, a few cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns. You should also throw in dill, parsley, celery leaves.
Let it all cook together with the meat.
Step two: the vegetable component
The composition of vegetables in borscht varies greatly. For example, it may not contain cabbage or potatoes. Some people add peppers and tomatoes, while others do not. There are no clear rules, everyone cooks soup to their own taste. Therefore, general recommendations are given here.
The most common mistake is that beets are boiled in broth. This causes them to lose color, become pale, and the broth to acquire an unsightly brown color. To make the color burgundy and rich, beets should be put in a frying pan.
How to make a stir-fry
Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry the onion until soft. Then add the carrots and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Note: If you have ghee, use it.
Clarified butter has a delicate caramel aroma that perfectly matches the sweet aroma of carrots. Thanks to this trick, borscht acquires a richer taste and aroma.
After the carrots and onions have been fried, add the pulp of fresh tomatoes and a couple of spoons of tomato paste.
After tomatoes, many cooks resort to one trick - they add paprika to the frying. It gives the borscht an even richer color.
Salt and pepper the fried mixture along with the paprika. Add the beets and simmer until done.
To keep the beetroot rich in color, you need to add acid to it. Usually, tomatoes and tomato paste are enough. But you can also pour in a little wine vinegar.
Cabbage and potatoes are boiled in the broth. If you add sweet pepper, it is better to add it to the broth as well.
Step three: combining the products
When all the vegetables are ready, the frying is put into the broth. At this stage, you can add garlic. But it tastes much better if the garlic is served with herbs.
The taste of borscht will be richer, and people who do not like garlic will be able to eat borscht without it.
Remember these subtleties to prepare not only tasty, but also beautiful borscht, which will have a rich red color.
