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Ciorbă de urzici
Ciorbă de urzici: Moldavian spring nettle soup soured with borș
Around Iași and in the Moldavian hills, the first young nettles of March and April arrive just as the long Easter fast begins, and a green, sour ciorbă de urzici is often the first fresh vegetable dish of the year. It is a vegan post dish: nettle tops, spring onions and a little rice simmered together, then soured with borș until the broth is bright and tangy, with a grassy, spinach-like depth. Wear gloves to pick and wash the nettles and use only the young tops, the first four to six leaves; older, flowering plants turn tough and gritty. The classic error is boiling the nettles for too long, which makes them grey and stringy. Chef's tip: add a handful of chopped lovage with the borș, as it gives the soup its unmistakably Moldavian flavour.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 14 oz young nettle topspicked and washed wearing gloves
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 1 carrotgrated
- 1 bunch spring onionssliced
- 3 garlic clovessliced
- 1 ¾ oz short-grain ricerinsed
- 6 ¼ cups water
- 2 cups borș (fermented bran liquid)or juice of 1–2 lemons
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp lovagechopped
- 2 tbsp dillchopped
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Wearing gloves, pick over the 14 oz young nettle tops, discarding thick stalks, and wash them in two changes of cold water. Chop roughly on a board.
8 minStep 2: Heat the 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a large pan over a medium heat and soften the 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 bunch spring onions for 5 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
5 minStep 3: Add the 6 ¼ cups water, 1 ¾ oz short-grain rice and 1 ½ tsp salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 12 minutes, until the rice is nearly tender.
12 minStep 4: Meanwhile bring the 2 cups borș (fermented bran liquid) to the boil in a separate small pan, skimming off any foam.
4 minStep 5: Add the nettles and 3 garlic cloves to the soup and simmer for 4–5 minutes, just until the leaves are wilted and dark green; they lose their sting once cooked.
5 minStep 6: Pour in the hot borș and simmer together for 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt or borș until the broth is pleasantly sour.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 110 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 16 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ciorbă de urzici take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of carrot?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
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