Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de perisoare)

Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de perisoare)
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Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 20
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 147.6
  • Total Fat: 5.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 37.2 mg
  • Sodium: 908.0 mg
  • Total Carbs: 11.1 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 1.2 g
  • Protein: 13.0 g

View full nutritional breakdown of Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de perisoare) calories by ingredient


Introduction

The Romanian cuisine includes a wide variety of soups.
There are two kinds of Romanian soups: "supa" and "ciorba", the latter referring to recipes that have a distinct sour flavor to them, given by the "borsch".
The "borsch" is a fermented wheat bran that is added to the different soups at the end of the preparation.
The Romanian Meat Ball Soup can be also prepared with ground chicken or pork.
The vegetables used can vary, but the carrot, celeriac/parsley root and onion are always necessary.
Some people add diced potatoes or noodles at step 3.
The flavor fix up at the end is optional.
Lovage is a spice herb somewhat resembling the parsley, but its leaves are bigger and its flavour is different.
Lovage leaves are always used in combination with borsch, much more so than parsley or dill. The Romanian cuisine includes a wide variety of soups.
There are two kinds of Romanian soups: "supa" and "ciorba", the latter referring to recipes that have a distinct sour flavor to them, given by the "borsch".
The "borsch" is a fermented wheat bran that is added to the different soups at the end of the preparation.
The Romanian Meat Ball Soup can be also prepared with ground chicken or pork.
The vegetables used can vary, but the carrot, celeriac/parsley root and onion are always necessary.
Some people add diced potatoes or noodles at step 3.
The flavor fix up at the end is optional.
Lovage is a spice herb somewhat resembling the parsley, but its leaves are bigger and its flavour is different.
Lovage leaves are always used in combination with borsch, much more so than parsley or dill.
Number of Servings: 20

Ingredients

    For the broth:
    Celeriac (celery root), 100 grams
    Carrots, raw, 100 grams
    Parsley root, 100 grams
    Bell Pepper, 170 grams
    Leek, raw, 100 grams
    Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 tbsp
    Salt, 2 tbsp
    Water, tap, 8000 grams

    For the meatballs:
    Ground beef 750 grams
    Rice, white, 80 grams
    Egg whites, fresh, 4 large
    Onions, raw, 150 grams
    Salt, 0.5 tbsp
    Pepper, 1 tsp

    Home-made borsch, 1 litre

    Flavor fix-up:
    Egg yolks, raw, 4 large
    Sour cream, 15% fat, 60 grams
    Parsley, 100 grams
    Dill weed, 50 grams
    Lovage, 100 grams

Tips

Romanian soups are even tastier a few days after their preparation. That is why we usually cook a large quantity of soup and thus we always have the first course ready, for lunch or dinner.
8 litres of soup makes 20 servings x 400 grams (360 ml of soup + 40 grams of meatballs)


Directions

Step 1 - Prepare the broth
Cut the vegetables as small as you can or grate them.
Saute them with the olive oil for 5 min.
Add the 8 l of water and the salt and bring to a boil.

Step 2: Prepare the meatballs
Mix the ground beef with the rice, the egg whites, the onion, salt and pepper. Make meatballs the size of a wallnut. When the broth is boiling, add the meatballs to it and let everything boil for 30 minutes or untill the meat is cooked.

Step 3: Prepare the borch
Bring the 1 l of borsch to boiling point. Add to the pot when the meatballs are cooked. Boil together for 3 minutes. Set aside.

Step 4: The flavour fix-up
Mix the egg yolks, sour cream and herbs with a ladleful of soup. Add to the finished product.