Chorba- The Poor Man's Food

                                      shchavelya sup

lean about çorba
                          Ciorbă    

Arab word, for SOUP. 

Turkish use it as well. 

Ukrainians, Romanians, Russians 

in general use this term.

CHORBA


Supposedly it is..   "the poor man's food"    - because during the war, families were so poor, they would eat first the meat off the bone, the first day, (cooked of course) then the next days they would boil the bones and add whatever vegetables they had, and fill their stomachs and their children with it... and each day, they would add more and more water, until there was so transparent, it was like water.

How I see it:
boiled water= killed all germs from the water, "sanitized"
veggies= flavor released and not destroy all the nutrients
meat - if any, but not always

If hydrates you, fills you up without feeling "heavy", and you are eating your veggies. :)
Unless you want to use a replacement then go that route. but it looks much better one of these:

I grew up with CHORBA, every lunch time, SOUP, or I didn't feel I ate that day. :P

It was a culture shock, somewhat, to learn that in the US, lunch is usually a sandwich.. but, "when in Rome..."

make  your own  lunch. And that is SOUP!  

I don't have to be sick to eat chicken soup! I am rather: If I don't eat soup at lunch, I'll get sick.

Lenten Soup Recipe

The difference between SOUP and Chorba is?



Soup is "transparent" and may not have meat.

CHORBA- is thicker, can't see through it, contains meat.

I enjoy making soup, because ABSOLUTELY EVERY TIME, it comes out different. I obviously don't like repetition, same things, routine. 

So, throwing in there anything (edible and not expired) lol  fresh veggies, is a treat itself. 

Cutting it "by the book" is not in my vocabulary either. So if I feel like crinkle carrots and polka dots potatoes to have in my CHORBA today, that will happen. 

    Blini- Russian pancakes


Matryoshka pendants



Spices, are again- at my choice. Not spicy though! the only "SPICY" we use is pepper and paprika. Hard to believe, right?  Especially when here, curry and tabasco sauce are a "usual" in many meals

VEGETA spices YUMM!!









I've just discovered KALE and I had it in my fridge.  So,  my chorba has:

KALE   facts about KALE
CARROTS    a fun read about CARROTS
GNOCCHI  WHAT IS GNOCCHI
CHICKEN  chicken cubes
and spices.

so, how do we call this one?   KA-GNO-CA-CHI?  :))  lol   (I like word play)

I fried the carrots before, not too much, just enough to get them gooey and sweet,

 pour more water, 

gnocchi- already boiled, drop it in there,

then add chicken cubes- already boiled

and KALE-

and boil 'till I get tired :P

The flavor of Kale comes out and at taste, it still good texture, and yet it's not as bitter. 

add VEGETA.

tadam!!      I poured it in jars, to freeze it as I may get bored of eating same type of soup a few days in a row. 

things to do in Russia

Russian soup recipe




so drop the fast food, and sandwiches at lunch.
too easy!   xoxo



and VODKA, but stay home after that- don't drink and drive!








I will leave you drooling over this Lithuanian feast :)