Chef Lesia
Bessarabskyi Borshch (бессарабський борщ, fish borshch)
The catch goes into the pan before it ever meets the pot, so Danube fish stays whole in a tomato-red broth sour enough to wake the table.
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Halytskyi Borshch (галицький борщ, beet-kvass borshch)
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This western borshch is not thick. It is ruby-clear, sour from beet kvass, sweet from slow roots, and clean enough that people in Halychyna drink it as much as eat it.
Soups & Stews
Ukrainian
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
2 hr cook•2 hr 35 min total
Yield8 servings
The first surprise is the clarity. Not thinness, clarity. Halytskyi borshch should shine dark ruby in the ladle, sharp with beet kvass, sweet from roasted roots, and clean enough to drink from a cup while the potatoes wait on a separate plate with dill and sunflower oil.
This is western Ukrainian borshch, from Halychyna, and it has its own manners. No cabbage here. No spoon standing straight today. The strength comes from a good broth, beets cooked until the smell changes from raw earth to warm sweetness, and beet kvass, buriachkovyi kvas, stirred in late so the sourness stays alive instead of being boiled flat.
The one why that decides the pot is the zasmazhka, the slow-sweated onion and carrot. Add it near the end. Let its sweetness sit brightly on the broth, with little orange beads of fat on the surface; add it early and it disappears into the stock, polite and lost. Aunt Nadia would have written, "until it sounds right," and here that means a quiet pot, not a storm.
Make a big pot anyway. Clear borshch is still borshch, and leftovers grow deeper overnight, once the kvass and the roasted beets have stopped arguing.
Halytskyi borshch belongs to Halychyna, the western Ukrainian region around Lviv, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk, where clear beet borshch is often soured with fermented beet kvass and served with potatoes or mushroom vushka. The style reflects a borderland kitchen shaped by Ukrainian village cooking, Jewish markets, Polish neighbors, and the old Austro-Hungarian city table, but the sour beet base remains recognizably Ukrainian. Unlike the cabbage-rich central and southern pots, this version values a clean broth and fermented sourness, which is why the west drinks it as much as eats it.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef short ribs or beef shin on the bone
Quantity
1.2 kg
cold water
Quantity
3 litres
bay leaves
Quantity
2
black peppercorns
Quantity
8
onion for the broth
Quantity
1 large
halved
celery stalk or parsley root (optional)
Quantity
1
red beets
Quantity
1 kg
scrubbed, tails left on
unrefined sunflower oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely diced
carrot
Quantity
1 large
coarsely grated
tomato paste or fermented tomato mors
Quantity
2 tablespoons tomato paste or 150ml mors
beet kvass
Quantity
600ml, plus more to taste
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
crushed with salt
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sea salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
dill
Quantity
1 large bunch
finely chopped
smetana (optional)
Quantity
to serve
boiled potatoes with dill and sunflower oil
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef short ribs or beef shin on the bone | 1.2 kg |
| cold water | 3 litres |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| black peppercorns | 8 |
| onion for the brothhalved | 1 large |
| celery stalk or parsley root (optional) | 1 |
| red beetsscrubbed, tails left on | 1 kg |
| unrefined sunflower oil | 2 tablespoons |
| onionfinely diced | 1 large |
| carrotcoarsely grated | 1 large |
| tomato paste or fermented tomato mors | 2 tablespoons tomato paste or 150ml mors |
| beet kvass | 600ml, plus more to taste |
| garliccrushed with salt | 2 cloves |
| sugar (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| sea salt and black pepper | to taste |
| dillfinely chopped | 1 large bunch |
| smetana (optional) | to serve |
| boiled potatoes with dill and sunflower oil | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •A large stockpot, at least 5 litres
- •A fine sieve
- •A wide pan for the zasmazhka
- •A box grater
- •Deep bowls or heatproof cups for serving
Instructions
- 1
Start the broth
Put the beef bones in a large pot with the cold water and bring it up slowly. Skim the grey foam as it rises, then add the bay leaves, peppercorns, halved onion, and celery or parsley root if you're using it. Keep the pot at the barest tremble until the broth smells sweet and meaty, not raw, and the meat loosens when you pull at it with a fork.
A hard boil clouds the broth, and this borshch wants to be clear. Think of a quiet pot with one or two bubbles breaking, not a rolling noise. - 2
Roast the beets
While the broth cooks, wrap the whole beets in foil or place them in a covered dish and roast at 200C until a knife slides in without a fight. Keep the tails on so the color stays inside. When they are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins and grate them coarse; they should smell sweet and dark, like warm earth after rain.
- 3
Strain it clean
Lift the meat and bones from the broth, then strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pot. Pull the meat into bite-size pieces and keep it for serving or for another meal, depending how clear and light you want the bowl. Taste the broth now and salt it cautiously, because the beet kvass will bring its own salt and sourness.
- 4
Build the zasmazhka
Warm the sunflower oil in a wide pan and add the diced onion. Let it go soft and translucent before the carrot joins it, then cook slowly until the carrot relaxes and the oil turns orange. Stir in the tomato paste or fermented tomato mors and cook until the raw tomato smell disappears.
This zasmazhka goes in near the end so its sweetness sits brightly on top of the broth. If you add it at the start, it flattens into the stock and the borshch loses its lift. - 5
Color the pot
Add the grated beets to the strained broth and let them steep at a very gentle simmer until the liquid turns deep ruby. The pot should murmur, not shout. If the beets taste flat, add the spoon of sugar; if they are naturally sweet, leave it alone.
- 6
Sour with kvass
Stir in the zasmazhka, then pour in the beet kvass. Bring the pot only back to a tremble and stop there; boiling hard after the kvass goes in dulls the sourness and muddies the color. Taste for the balance of sweet, sour, and salt, then add more kvass by the splash until your mouth wakes up.
- 7
Finish and rest
Stir in the crushed garlic and most of the dill, then take the pot off the heat and let it stand. The surface should be glossy, with little orange beads from the zasmazhka and a clean beet-crimson broth underneath. Serve in deep bowls or cups, with smetana if you like, and boiled potatoes dressed with dill and unrefined sunflower oil on the side.
Chef Tips
- •Beet kvass is the souring, not a garnish. If yours is very sharp, start with less and build up; if it is gentle, be generous.
- •No cabbage in this one. That is not a rule for all borshch, only the Galician style we are making today.
- •If you want the Christmas Eve version, make a mushroom broth instead of beef and serve it with vushka, little mushroom dumplings. A bit more festive, and very much at home in the west.
- •The broth can be meaty or lean, but it must be clear. Skimming and a quiet simmer matter more than perfect knife work.
- •Use unrefined sunflower oil for the potatoes if you can. It is Ukraine in a bottle of oil, green-gold and nutty.
Advance Preparation
- •Beet kvass needs 5 to 7 days at room temperature if you make it yourself. Weigh 1 litre water with 40g to 50g salt for a 4 to 5 percent brine, cover sliced raw beets fully, and keep everything below the surface.
- •The broth can be made a day ahead, chilled, and skimmed clean before finishing the borshch.
- •The finished borshch improves overnight. Reheat gently and do not let it boil hard after the kvass has gone in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 760g)
Calories
480 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
900 mg
Total Carbohydrates
53 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
16 g
Protein
23 g
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