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Ciorbă de Perișoare — Tangy Romanian Soup with Pork and Rice Meatballs
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Source: https://recipheon.com/en/recipes/soups/ciorba-de-perisoare-tangy-romanian-soup-with-pork-and-rice-meatballs
About this recipe
Ciorbă de perișoare is a Romanian soup with small meatballs, rice, and plenty of vegetables. In this homemade version, the sourness comes from fresh lemon juice, not fermented borș souring liquid. Uncooked white rice goes straight into the meat and softens as the meatballs simmer gently in the soup. An egg and finely chopped onion help make the mixture firm enough to hold together yet tender. Carrot, celeriac, and bell pepper form a simple base that needs no separately prepared broth. Tomatoes and lemon are added only once the rice inside the meatballs is tender. Fresh lovage added at the end gives the soup its characteristic aroma. These quantities make about thirty meatballs, or six portions with five each, accompanied by vegetables and a lightly tomato-flavored broth.
Ingredients
Pork and rice meatballs
500 g fresh ground pork with about 10% fat, without salt or seasonings
50 g regular dry white rice, not instant, with a cooking time of about 15–20 minutes
1 medium egg, about 50 g without the shell
80 g peeled onion for the meatballs
4 g salt for the meatballs
1 g ground black pepper
Vegetable soup base
100 g peeled onion for the soup
200 g peeled carrot
100 g peeled celeriac
150 g red bell pepper, weighed after removing the core and seeds
200 g canned chopped tomatoes with their juice, without additions
20 g rapeseed oil
2.2 l water
6 g salt for the soup
Sourness and fresh aroma
60 g freshly squeezed lemon juice, without seeds or peel
10 g fresh lovage leaves, washed and patted dry
Steps
Finely chop the onion for the soup and dice the carrot, celeriac, and bell pepper into pieces about 0.5–1 cm across. Separately, chop the onion for the meatballs as finely as possible so large pieces do not tear the meat mixture apart. Briefly rinse the rice in a fine sieve and drain very thoroughly. Do not cook it beforehand. Keep the ground meat and egg in the refrigerator until mixing.
Heat all the oil over medium heat in a pot holding about 5 l. Add the 100 g of onion for the soup, carrot, celeriac, and bell pepper. Cook for about 7–8 minutes, stirring, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables soften slightly, without deep browning. Pour in all the water, add the 6 g of salt for the soup, and start heating. Prepare the meatballs meanwhile; leave the tomatoes for later.
AI-generated Put the cold meat, all the drained uncooked rice, the egg without its shell, and the 80 g of very finely chopped onion in a bowl. Add the 4 g of salt for the meatballs and all the pepper. Mix by hand for about 1–2 minutes until evenly combined and slightly sticky. Do not add flour, breadcrumbs, or an extra egg. Do not taste the raw mixture.
Moisten your hands with water and use the entire mixture to shape about 30 even meatballs roughly 3–3.5 cm across, the size of a small walnut. Place them on a lightly moistened plate or tray. Aim for similar sizes and smooth surfaces, but do not squeeze them firmly. Use all the mixture; there is no need to weigh each meatball. Wash the utensils and your hands after contact with raw meat.
AI-generated Once the vegetable liquid is simmering gently and the vegetables have cooked for about 5–10 minutes, add the meatballs one at a time, carefully sliding them in close to the surface. After adding the last one, wait until the soup returns to a gentle simmer. Cook partially covered for 30–35 minutes without vigorous bubbling; do not stir for the first few minutes, then gently move the pot. Do not stop cooking simply because the meatballs have floated to the surface. Leave all the broth and fat in the soup.
Lift out one meatball, cut it open, and check the rice grains in the center: they should be swollen and completely tender, without a hard core. The meatballs must be cooked all the way through. If the rice is still firm, cook for another 5–10 minutes before adding the acidic ingredients. Return the pieces of the checked meatball to the soup. Add all the tomatoes with their juice and simmer gently for another 5–8 minutes. The soup should remain brothy and lightly tomato-flavored, with tender vegetables.
AI-generated Finely chop all the lovage. Pour all the weighed lemon juice into the soup with the already cooked meatballs and heat for about another minute. Turn off the heat, add all the lovage, and stir gently. Cover and leave for about 10 minutes. The juice gives this homemade version its fresh sourness; it is not fermented borș. Do not put lemon slices or peel in the pot.
Divide the meatballs among six bowls, with about five per portion, then add the vegetables and all the broth. Serve the soup hot with the lovage already in it, without adding cream. If saving some for later, transfer it to smaller containers, cool quickly, and refrigerate. Use within 2 days, reheating only the portion needed until hot; the rice may absorb a little more liquid during storage.
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