Growing up in Transylvania, I often had the Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup, especially during the cold months of January and February, when the temperatures would drop to -20. This soup is a great way to keep yourself warm, but also indulge in some wonderful flavours.
Cabbage is a staple ingredient in Romanian cuisine. It is used in many of the traditional Romanian dishes, such as sarmale or different cabbage stews. We eat it fresh in summer, dressed with vinegar and caraway seeds, we pickle it for winter, and we use it as a main ingredient in many hearty dishes.
Smoked meat, especially pork, is also an important element of the Romanian diet. Mostly in villages, the tradition of slaughtering a pig just before Christmas is still well kept. The meat from the pig is then preserved, parts of it in freezers, and parts of it cured and smoked. Many of our traditional foods include smoked pork, which these days is considered a delicacy, and, bought from the farmers market, it’s not cheap.
This wonderful Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup recipe brings together two of the classic flavours of the country. It is rustic, hearty, and full of flavour.
The Ingredients for the Romanian Cabbage and Smoked Meat Soup
The Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup is a hearty dish, perfect for a cold winter lunch. It packs a lot of flavour, and it’s slightly sour – not as much as the other typical Romanian soups though, such as the meatball or the beef soups.
There are quite a few ingredients to make this soup, but, as always, I will give you the option to customise the recipe to your liking. The main ingredients for this soup are cabbage and smoked meat. To make this recipe easy, I went for meat that has already been smoked and deboned. I bought a smoked pork knuckle which didn’t need extra boiling. You can find smoked meat at any Romanian, Polish, and even Turkish shops. Sometimes even the big supermarkets have it. If you buy uncooked smoked meat, you will need to boil it separately and, if it has bones, you will need to debone it once it’s cooked. Yes, the bones do enhance the flavour, but also require more effort. I found that the boneless smoked meat is as good, and the flavour will still be there.
When it comes to vegetables, I used the classic onions, carrots and celery for the base, and then bell peppers and green beans for the crunch.
I flavoured the broth with caraway seeds. I think they go extremely well and complement the taste of the cabbage. I also used smoked paprika, to add an extra layer of flavour depth to this soup.
As the cabbage and smoked meat soup has a sour element in it, I used lemon juice to balance the sweetness and add some freshness to the dish. I also dressed the soup with sour cream. This is an optional step, but I highly recommend it because the soup tastes so much better. Sour cream, especially when it has a high percentage of fat, makes everything taste better.
How to Make the Romanian Cabbage and Smoked Meat Soup
There are many different ways to make this Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup. The recipe differs from household to household and region to region. I chose the easiest way to make this soup, which doesn’t involve too much effort, but results in a very tasty dish.
I started with sautéing the onions, carrots, and celery sticks. This is the base of the soup, which will release that beautiful vegetable flavour. Once they started to get soft, I added the chopped cabbage to the mix. I like to fry the cabbage a little bit, and not just add it to the liquid to boil. I feel this way it has more flavour. I then cut the smoked pork chop into pieces, and added it to the pot to fry a little bit as well. When all the cabbage got soft as well, I added the smoked paprika and immediately poured a cup of water on top. Paprika adds so much flavour to the dish but it also burns very easily, so it’s very important not to let it fry at all.
I completed the water quantity to reach three quarters of the pot, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. I then added the can of chopped tomatoes, and let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so. I completed with the caraway seeds and the rest of the chopped vegetables, and let the soup simmer for enough time to cook them. I like them with a bit of crunch, so I was careful not to over boil them.
The final step in making this delicious Romanian soup is dressing it. This may sound like a complicated process, but it’s not. Firstly, I mixed the sour cream with the lemon juice. Then, I started adding ladles of hot soup, making sure that I mix very well after each one. Sour cream will split if mixed directly into the hot soup, so this step is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Once the sour cream reached the same temperature as the soup, I poured it over in the big pot, and mixed well.
I served the soup hot, alongside rustic bread, more sour cream and lemon wedges on the side.
Notes and Tips:
- As in pretty much every Romanian soup recipe, you can use whatever vegetables you have around the house, to add more flavour and consistency to the dish. I used peppers and green beans, as that’s what I had in the fridge. This soup goes well with courgettes, or root vegetables.
- If you plan to use fresh smoked meat, such as pork ribs, you will need to boil it separately, for around 20 minutes or so. You will then have to debone the meat.
- You can make this soup vegetarian by removing the meat. During Lent, the meat-free cabbage soup is a popular choice.
Romanian Cabbage and Smoked Meat Soup – Ciorba de Varza cu Afumatura
Ingredients
- 1/2 white cabbage shredded
- 200 gr smoked meat (I chose smoked pork leg) cut in cubes
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 carrot finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks finely chopped
- 1 red pepper finely chopped
- a bunch of green beans cut in half
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp carraway seeds
- 2 lemons juice only
- 100 ml sour cream
- dried dill optional
Instructions
- Add a little bit of oil into a pan and fry the chopped onions, carrots, and celery sticks.
- Add the chopped cabbage, and sauté until it starts to shrink.
- Add the chopped smoked meat, and stir a couple of times, to mix with the vegetables.
- Add the paprika and immediately a cup of water, so you don’t burn it.
- Add 4L of water and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes or so.
- Add the can of chopped tomatoes and mix well.
- Simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Add one tsp of caraway seeds.
- Add the chopped peppers and the green beans, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- If the water starts to evaporate, top it up.
- In total, simmer the soup for 50 to 60 minutes, so all the flavours from the meat and the vegetables are released.
- Turn the heat off, and prepare the sour cream dressing. Mix the lemon juice with the sour cream, then add a ladle of hot soup to the bowl, and mix well. Add another ladle of soup and continue to mix until you bring the sour cream to the soup’s temperature. This is important, so the sour cream doesn’t split in the hot soup.
- Optional, you can sprinkled some dried dill on top once the soup is ready.
- Serve hot with crusty bread, and extra sour cream and lemon wedges on the side.
FAQ:
How to store Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup?
You can store the Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup in an airtight closed container, in the fridge. Make sure that the soup is completely cold before putting it in the fridge.
How long can you store Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup?
The Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup will last up to 72 hours if stored correctly, in the fridge.
How to reheat the Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup?
You can reheat the Romanian cabbage and smoked meat soup by taking as many portions as you need from the storing container, and transferring in a smaller pot. Reheat the soup over a low heat, until it starts bubbling.
For more delicious Romanian soups, check out my recommendations below:
- Romanian Meatball Soup Recipe
- Romanian Chicken Soup Recipe
- Romanian Chicken a la Grec Soup Recipe
- Romanian Beef Soup Recipe
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Where is the recipe for the Romanian Cabbage and Smoked Meat Soup? This looks delicious!
It’s in the middle of the post, in the recipe card 🙂