Ciorbă de Pește (Ciorbă de pește)
Overview
Ciorbă de pește is a sour Romanian fish soup, made above all in the Danube Delta. Several kinds of freshwater fish, such as carp, pike, catfish, perch and zander, are cleaned and cut into pieces. The heads and smaller fish are simmered first with onion, carrot, parsley root, sweet peppers and tomatoes to make a broth, which is strained. The large pieces of fish are then poached gently in it, and the soup is soured with borș, fermented bran juice, or lemon and finished with lovage or parsley. The fish is often served on a separate plate with mujdei, a garlic sauce, and polenta.
History
Fish soup is the pride of the fishermen of the Danube Delta, many of them Lipovans, who cook it in large cauldrons over an open fire on the riverbank, sometimes with Danube water. The fishermen's version, called ciorbă pescărească or borș pescăresc, is a highlight for visitors to Tulcea and the delta villages. It is also cooked throughout Romania, especially along the Danube and in the fasting periods of the Orthodox year.
Main ingredients
River fish, tomatoes, onion, peppers, borș, lovage. The soup is built on sour fish broth and is usually served hot. Diet: pescatarian; usually gluten-free.
Explore: Fish and seafood soups · Tomato soups · More soups from Romania
Recipe
Method
- 125 min
Simmer the fish heads and tails with the vegetables in 2.5 l salted water for 25 minutes, then strain.
- 2
Return the vegetables to the broth with the tomatoes and bring back to a simmer.
- 310 min
Add the fish pieces and cook gently for 10 minutes, without stirring.
- 4
Add the borș or lemon juice and bring just to the boil.
- 5
Season, add lovage and serve with garlic sauce and polenta.
- ✓
Serve. About 1h 5m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
