I know that it may sound horrible, but believe me it's the key ingredient for anyone who wants to try the 'real deal', which is Eastern European beetroot soup -> borscht. It's very easy to make and beetroots are mainly what you need. There's no real philosophy to it, it's easily done, all you need is fresh, uncooked beetroots. You can keep the beetroot kwas it on the kitchen worktop, in the pantry, utility room, but make sure it's away from direct sunlight and nowhere near next to heater etc. You can use your beets twice for it, but the second batch of the juice will be that little bit less sour.
Beetroot kwas is very common, especially in Eastern Europe, but unfortunately, as everything else, not being trendy or hip - it's slowly being forgotten. I think we should keep those traditions (not only the culinary ones) alive. Hope you'll give it a go!
Beetroot kwas is very common, especially in Eastern Europe, but unfortunately, as everything else, not being trendy or hip - it's slowly being forgotten. I think we should keep those traditions (not only the culinary ones) alive. Hope you'll give it a go!
The recipe and the exact instructions below are curtesy of my Dad. He's making the kwas on a regular basis, so he was able to tell me everything straight away and with quite a detail.
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 l tepid water
Method:
- Place your beetroots in a big jar, small pot etc. add garlic, salt and your lukewarm water.
How to make it...
Ingredients:
- 4 medium beetroots, peeled and roughly chopped- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 l tepid water
Method:
- Place your beetroots in a big jar, small pot etc. add garlic, salt and your lukewarm water.
- Do not cover it tightly, as the air has to flow easily. You can cover your pot with a lid with some holes in it (those which allow steam to escape) or if you have a jar (or don't have a proper lid) just take a muslin cloth and cover with that, securing around with a string or elastic band.
- Set aside, somewhere in your kitchen, with normal room temperature.
- Set aside, somewhere in your kitchen, with normal room temperature.
- After few days you'll notice a foam starting to form - do not touch it!
- It's an important part of the whole process.
- After the foam, you should notice a small circles of mould on the surface and that's the sign we're waiting for - your fermented beetroot juice is ready.
- Carefully take all the mould and foam from the surface and discard.
- Now you can use the sour juice as a base of your barszcz or like many people do - just drink it, bit by bit, for medicinal purpose.
Smacznego!
Smacznego!
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Thanks for sharing this; I'm glad your dad had the details! I could also use guidance on making the sour rye broth. Is it supposed to mold too?
ReplyDeleteI'll be making sour rye broth soon (have to call my dad too ;)), but it's not molding as the beetroot one, as long as I know - when I pubish it I'll let you know.
ReplyDeletePozdrawiam!
Anula.
Does the water should be boiled and the cooled to lukewarm or it should be tap water?
ReplyDeleteIt should be boiled and cooled water, I wouldn't use tap water for something like this (nor for bread starter etc.). Good luck with your beets and let me know how it went!
DeletePozdrawiam, Anula.
I'm glad there is a traditional way of making borscht posted on the net. Yay
ReplyDeleteThank you! And it's soooo easy too! :) Enjoy.
DeletePozdrawiam, Anula.
how long can you keep the fermented and strained juice? I made some about a month ago and realised I'd left it in the shed in a sealed jar. There's a slight surface on it but it smells the same!
ReplyDeleteHello, I've never kept it for so long, so it's hard to say. It might be still good, if the smell and the taste is the same. There might be a thin "film/coating" on the surface, as you say, but there shouldn't be any clusters of mold etc.! It might also be more sour (as it had more time to ferment), but it should never be bitter! If it's bitter/bitter sweet it has gone bad.
DeletePozdrawiam, Anula.
Thank you SO MUCH.
ReplyDeleteMy local Polish restaurant is closed due to the pandemic and I am missing their soup. With this recipe, I can make my own.
Greetings from Brazil.
Hello :) my pleasure. Happy to help and even happier that you enjoy Polish cuisine! :D Stay safe and happy cooking!
DeletePozdrawiam, Anula.
Can you make beet sour with cooked beets or do they need to be raw?
ReplyDeleteIf you add "live cultures", like a sourdough bread skin etc in theory it should work, but I've never tried it, so I wouldn't recommend and can't vouch for that method. Best to try and get raw beetroots.
DeleteI've always made barszcz using balsamic vinegar to balance the beetroot. I have just successfully used the traditional method using your recipe for kwas. Fantastic and more authentic flavour. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHello. So happy to hear that it worked for you and you liked it. It really is a simple process of making kwas, though a time consuming as you need to wait. If you want barszcz straight away, using vinegar will work well, but I agree - nothing tastes quite like the real deal!
DeletePozdrawiam, Anula.
What size jar do you mean by “big jar”? A quart jar? And how much water? Just enough to fill the quart jar? Or are you thinking a jar big enough to accommodate a quart of water PLUS all the veggies, like a half gallon jar. Since the recipe uses English measure for the teaspoons, I wasn’t sure if the water quantity was a liter or a typo or what. Thanks for posting this! I love borscht and am just learning about fermenting. Can’t wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteHello. Yes, what I meant is a vessel big enough, that will be able to contain all the liquid (1 litre of water) PLUS all the veggies - like a big glass jar, or even a cooking pot etc. I used teaspoons for salt, as that's how my dad is making it (and before that, my grandma), so I wanted to be true to the original method :) Hope you'll be successful with your fermentation process. Pozdrawiam, Anula.
DeleteI have heard of this before, but they put a slice of rye bread on top. Do you know about this?
ReplyDelete