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This traditional Romanian sour soup with pork and vegetable is a recipe that is made in many regions of Romania.

The recipe uses a variety of basic vegetables, like carrots, celery, potatoes and pork meat. The broth of this soup is dressed with sour cream and lemon juice or vinegar.

I forgot how delicious a good hearty soup can be. In the last few days, after we moved to our new place, I tried to get used to the new environment and get back to my cooking books and recipes.

It was not easy to get back in the kitchen as I had to get used again cooking on a gas stove.

I did not cook on a gas stove since I moved to US, so it was very exciting for me to get back to that. It is in a way like riding a bike…you never forget how to do it, but you get a little bit rusty if you did not use it in a while.

Did you ever notice the difference between cooking with an electrical stove versus a gas one?

It is all about how fast you move in the kitchen, and with the electrical one I was able to take my time and also multitask.

With the gas stove though, the food cooks faster, so I have to be around that pot a lot more than before when I was cooking with electrical…so, all my routine had to change.

Anyway, it was time for a soup. I love this soup as I love hearty soups in general. I grew up with them and always loved them.

A good soup feeds your body and soul, is a complete meal, and a smart, nutritious way to feed yourself and your family. In many cultures, broths and soups are the first aid on healing the ill and a great way to feed a child.

In the Romanian cuisine, soups can be sweet or sour.  The sour soups may contain a wide variety of sour ingredients, usually lemon juice or vinegar.

The sour soups have many vegetables and most of the time, meat, which can be anything available, pork, beef, chicken etc.

How To Make a Traditional Romanian Sour Soup with Pork and Vegetables:

I started the soup with these ingredients:

I cleaned and chopped everything.

Then, the pork meat which I cut in small cubes and added them to the pot with some vegetable oil.

I let the meat cook for a while, then added my chopped vegetables, except the potatoes and tomatoes, which I added them a little bit later. Don’t forget the garlic.

After the meat got really friendly with the vegetables, I added some water to cover them and simmer the soup for a while. When the meat was cooked, I added the tomatoes and the potatoes.

When the potatoes got also cooked, I added the salt and pepper to taste, some oregano, dry tarragon, and the lemon juice(you can add vinegar instead). I reduced the heat and grabbed a separate bowl.

I put the sour cream in it and with a ladle, I added some hot soup over the sour cream mixing constantly.

Note: If you throw the sour cream in the soup, it will separate and kind of get an unappetizing look, so just do it slowly and pour the hot liquid over the sour cream as I specified, so it gets creamy and pretty.

I poured the mixture over the soup mixing well to incorporate the sour cream and give the soup a white creamy look. At this point, the soup is ready.

Add some fresh crusty bread to that, and here you have a gorgeous meal for your family!

This soup is so delicious that we had it for breakfast one day and my husband said that he never ate anything better than this soup…he always says that with everything I cook though, so you have to make the soup and let me know if he was right or not. 🙂

Enjoy!

Yield: 8 portions

Traditional Romanian Sour Soup with Pork and Vegetables

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This traditional Romanian sour soup with pork and vegetable is a recipe that is made in many regions of Romania. The recipe uses a variety of basic vegetables, like carrots, celery, potatoes and pork meat. the broth of this soup is dressed with sour cream and lemon juice or vinegar.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound/500g pork meat chopped
• 3 medium carrots chopped
• 2-3 celery sticks chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 celery root peeled and chopped
• 1 pepper(any color you prefer) chopped
• 1-2 potatoes medium, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon dry tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
• 4 Tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 lemon(we use the juice from it) or 1-2 Tablespoons vinegar or to your taste
• 8 cups water

Instructions

Chop the pork meat in cubes and put them in a pot of soup, on medium heat, on the stove, with some vegetable oil.

Let the meat sweat for few minutes to develop the flavor, then add all the cleaned and chopped vegetables(carrots, celery sticks, onion, garlic, celery root, pepper) except for the potatoes and tomatoes.

Cook the vegetables together with the meat until they develop the flavor, then add water to cover them.

Bring the soup to a boil then lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are soft. Add the potatoes cut in small cubes and the chopped tomatoes.

Add salt and pepper to taste and a little bit of oregano.

Simmer the soup 5-10 minutes more until the potatoes are cooked.

Add the dry tarragon and the juice from the lemon(or vinegar).

In a separate bowl put the sour cream.

Add a small amount of hot soup to sour cream; stir to mix. Gradually add the mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Do not bring back to boil.

Serve hot.

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