[Anime Culture Monday] Anime Recipes: Borscht from Yuri!!! On ICE

We are back again this fine Monday to talk about everyone’s favorite homoerotic they-are-totally-not-gay-we-swear ice skating sensation that is Yuri!!! On ICE. Last week we had the task of introducing one of the placards used between commercial breaks for Kibi Dango. Be sure to check it out after enjoying this one.

Borscht known as борщ in Russian is featured and talked about frequently in this ice skating series. Which, if you think about it, makes sense since this is a frequently consumed dish in colder regions of the world such as Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Lithuania and more! The dish is frequently rearing its head throughout the series and even gets turned into a borscht katsu later in the series. (If someone knows how to fry soup inside of batter, let us know. We are…. Asking for someone.) Today we will cover this sour, red soup that surprisingly is not made from the blood of your enemies, but rather a rather sweet vegetable.


Borscht from Yuri!!! On ICE

Borscht hails from Eastern Europe. The most common variation of the soup is the Ukranian version that uses bountiful amounts of beets to achieve the red color. Today we will be looking at the Russian version. Just to let you know too since Borscht spreads across multiple countries, there are many variations like green borscht, while borscht, and even cabbage-based borscht. It was originally consumed in eastern Europe as we have stated before, but it became popular in the west due to Jewish people, more specifically Ashkenazi Jews, making it in the US where it took off. Generally speaking, Borscht needs red beets and plenty of them! True Borscht draws the tart sourness from beets that have been boiled and then allowed to ferment.

Since this can take anywhere from 2 days to 3 weeks, we will be skipping over this step so it may not be as sour as the actual dish hailing from Russia. You can certainly try if you want to make it. The Russian version calls upon using things such as sausages, beef and ham in it with a horde of vegetables. This means that you can get everything at this one stop dish.

Not wanting to eat sour in hotter temperatures or in summer? There is a chilled version! The chilled version uses milk, yogurt, and other ingredients in lieu of beef or fish stock to make it and here is the weird thing: the beets combined with the dairy product actually turns it a pinkish-purple color! While we are not going to make that one today, today we will be making the blood of out lor- we mean, red borscht, Russian-style.

What You Will Need:

Beef Chuck Roast (Ham and or sausages will work just fine if you do not want to deal with cooking meat)
1lb

a Cabbage shredded
½

garlic
3 cloves

Large potatoes
1-2

large carrots
2

large onion
1

large beet
1

Tomatoes diced
½ cup

lemon juice
½ cup

sugar
1 tbsp

Sour Cream

Optional Notes:

If you are going to make this and you are a vegetarian, just add more vegetables to your own liking. Be sure too to add in mushroom stock or something similar to give it more flavor and a bit of a kick. Another thing about borscht is that it tastes better the next day. So if you can wait, give yourself enough time to let it sit overnight.



How to Cook It:

  1. 1

    Fist, slice your meat. If you are using raw meat, place it in a large pot and once it is all cut up, flood the pot with water and then bring it to a boil. Make sure that there is a lot of water at the top too.
  2. 2

    Skip step 1 if you are using ham/sausages
  3. 3

    Time to slice all of your veggies. Peel the carrots, onion, and beet. Then slice them all along with the tomatoes and mince your garlic.
  4. 4

    Cut your potatoes rather big. This is because this is a soup and if you cut them too small, they will break down in the cooking process.
  5. 5

    As the meat is beginning to boil, the scum will rise to the top. Skim this off the top with either a strainer, ladle, or spoon.
  6. 6

    Now, once the meat has been boiling for about 5-10 minutes, add in all of your sliced vegetables except for the garlic.
  7. 7

    Add the lemon juice here, salt and pepper for seasoning, and then reduce your boil to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  8. 8

    While you have 15 minutes, it is time to shred your cabbage. Do not use the core for this.
  9. 9

    Once the 15 minutes is up, add in your shredded cabbage, sugar, and garlic, and simmer for another 15 minutes.
  10. 10

    At this point, you are essentially done! What you need to do now is put some of the borscht into a bowl.
  11. 11

    Taste it. It should be a bit tart. You can always add more salt and pepper if it is not enough. Then, sprinkle some dill seasoning if you have and top it off with a dollop of sour cream.

(Note: Be careful while slicing everything up. Let someone know what you are doing! )

Yum!

Final Thought

That about wraps our international adventure in the kitchen this week. We had to go to Japan to go to Russia to get this recipe. What do you think? Are you loving these Yuri!!! On ICE recipes that we have coming here? Is there anything else from the series in relation to food you want to know, or is there anything you want us to explain how to make? Let us know below. Till next time!

005 [Anime Culture Monday] Anime Recipes: Borscht from Yuri!!! On ICE

Editor/Translator

Author: Nagareboshi

American by birth; international by choice. I am trying to bring attention to one of my favorite causes; me. I translate by day and write by night. Aspiring polyglot. My dream would be to be the personal translator for Amuro Namie. Other than that, my hobbies include languages, weightlifting, sleeping, karaoke, GOOD coffee and music. When I’m not doing any of the above, I am most likely laughing hysterically at Willam Belli videos or EV farming. I ain’t gunna Rupologize for it neither. Waifu are Shirai Kuroko & Euaerin.

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