Ciorbă de burtă is a soup that in Moldova and Romania you either love or adore. Those who try it for the first time are surprised: thick, creamy, slightly sour, with tender strips of tripe and sour cream. It is the classic soup for winter, for festive tables and, they say, the best cure for the morning after a merry evening. It takes time, but it is not difficult.

What tripe is and where to buy it

Tripe is the stomach of ruminants, most often beef. It is sold at meat counters and at markets, usually already cleaned and scalded. Good tripe is light, creamy or whitish, not grey, and does not smell sharp. If the smell is strong, do not buy it.

Tripe is cheap, but it needs long cooking and patience. Here is what is in the catalogues now:

In the catalogues now: meat

All offers

Preparing the tripe

Rinse the tripe well under running water and soak it in cold water for an hour. Then cover it with fresh water, bring it to a boil and pour off the first water: that is how the smell goes. After that add clean water and cook properly.

If the tripe is very tough you can boil it twice: first for half an hour, then change the water and cook another two or three hours with the vegetables.

The long simmer

Tripe is simmered on the lowest heat for two and a half to three hours. The bone with meat, a whole onion, the carrot and the parsley root go into the pot: they give the stock sweetness and aroma. Skim while there is scum. Add salt towards the end.

Test doneness with a knife: it should slide easily into the tripe, which should be soft but springy. A pressure cooker cuts the time to an hour, but the flavour of the stock is less deep.

Slicing and the stock

Take out the soft tripe and let it cool, then slice it into thin strips five or six centimetres long. Be sure to take the meat off the bone and slice it. The vegetables from the stock can be eaten separately with salt and bread. Strain the stock: it should be clear.

Return the tripe and meat to the stock, add lemon juice for a light tang and heat through.

Sour cream with yolks

The big trick of ciorbă de burtă is the liaison of sour cream and yolks. It makes the soup velvety and creamy. Mix the sour cream with two yolks in a bowl, add two spoons of hot stock and stir. Then pour it into the soup in a thin stream, stirring all the time. After that do not boil the soup: the yolks would curdle.

Eggs and sour cream are in the catalogues now:

In the catalogues now: eggs

This is not in the current catalogues right now: eggs. As soon as it shows up in a promotion, the cards will appear here.

Search the catalogues for something similar

The garlic sauce and serving

For serving, crush the garlic and pour the vinegar over it. After ten minutes the sauce is ready. It is served separately: each person adds a spoon to their bowl. Hot pepper and fresh bread go on the table.

The soup is eaten hot. On the second day it thickens: thin it with stock or water.

If you cannot find tripe

Tripe is not sold everywhere or always. Ask the butcher in advance or look for it at the market, where it arrives more often at weekends. If there is none, the same soup in a simpler version can be made with beef shank or chicken offal: you get a tender, slightly sour soup with sour cream, only without the characteristic texture. And buy real tripe in a bigger portion: after the long cooking it shrinks noticeably.

How to save money

Tripe and bone cost little, and they make a big pot of soup for eight portions. Buy meat on promotion, and garlic and vinegar are always at home. It is good to make a big batch: the soup freezes well without the sour cream, and the sour cream is added when reheating.