Ciorbă de Lobodă (Ciorbă de lobodă)
Overview
Ciorbă de lobodă is a Romanian sour soup of orache, a tender leaf like spinach, with red or green leaves, that fills the markets in early spring. Onion, carrot, parsley root or celeriac and a strip of sweet pepper are softened in a little oil, then covered with hot water and cooked with a handful of rice. Bunches of chopped orache go in only for the last few minutes so they keep their colour. The soup is soured with borș, the fermented wheat bran liquid used in many Romanian soups, which is brought to the boil separately, and it is finished with plenty of chopped lovage. Many cooks thicken it with an egg beaten with sour cream.
History
Ciorbă is the Romanian name for a soup soured with borș, lemon or vinegar, and every season has its own. Orache is among the first green leaves of the year, so this light soup is one of the classic spring dishes of Romanian home cooking. Without the egg and sour cream it becomes a fasting soup, suitable for the meatless days of the Orthodox calendar.
Main ingredients
Orache, rice, borș, lovage, onion, carrot. The soup is built on light sour borș broth and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Rice soups · More soups from Romania
Recipe
Method
- 15 min
Soften the onion, carrot, parsley root and pepper in the oil for 5 minutes.
- 215 min
Add 3 l hot water and the rice and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 35 min
Add the orache and cook for 3 to 5 minutes only.
- 4
Bring the borș to the boil separately, pour it in and let the soup boil once.
- 5
Beat the egg with the sour cream, temper it with hot broth, stir it in, add the lovage and serve.
- ✓
Serve. About 50 min from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
