This is such a delicious soup I just have to share it with you. It’s a very traditional soup, and it’s one of my favorite soups. ”Ciorba” in romanian usually refers to sour soups with vegetables and some form of meat. They are made sour by adding either lemon juice, “bors” which is fermented wheat bran, sauerkraut juice, or sometimes even vinegar. Most of the time I just use lemon juice and this gives the soup a very nice sour taste. Also Romanians differentiate between “ciorba” and soup, soup is usually clear and has no added acid. I grew up with this soup, my mother used to make it quite often, and as I said it’s one of my favorites. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb of ground meat (you can use chicken, pork, turkey, beef, whatever you prefer, you may even combine meat, such as beef and pork)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup of long grain rice
- 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
- parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
For the soup:
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 carrots grated, or cut in very small pieces
- 2 stalks of celery cut in very small pieces
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste or 1 cup of tomato juice
- juice of one lemon
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- parsley
To start this off it’s very simple. Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs and start forming small meatballs about 1 inch in diameter, or even smaller, depends on how much patience you have. The smaller they are the cuter they look.
In a big pot, heat the oil and then add the vegetables and fry until the onion is clear. Add about 6 to 8 cups of water, you may even add beef or chicken broth to this, depending on the meat you’re using. Wait for the soup to start boiling, then add the meatballs one at a time. Keep boiling, when the meatballs are done, they will rise to the top, add the the tomato juice or paste, lemon juice, salt and pepper and let the soup simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes. When the soup is done, add the parsley. Serve this hot with a bit of sour cream.
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