Perișoră soup recipe: Taste of home

The recipe for meatball soup has two good cousins: the gentle Polish zupa klopsowa and the refined Greek youvarlakia avgolemono. In all of them, juicy and fluffy minced meatballs float, but the broth makes the difference: in Poland it is clear and creamy, in Greece it is velvety and fragrant with lemon, and in Romania it is soured with borscht and invigorated with lovage, two ingredients that give it an unmistakable character.

Are you hungry and want the recipe for perișoare soup straight away? No problem, just skip to the ingredients list and get to work. For those who have a minute more patience, here's the story: how perișoare soup was born and how it came to be a staple in many kitchens.

Is perișoare soup a traditional dish in Romania?

Perișoare soup is perhaps the most beloved of Romanian soups. Radu Anton Roman called it "the quintessential Wallachian dish," but the truth is that it is cooked all over the country and brings together flavors from Asia and Europe.

Rice in perișoare came to us through oriental influences, borscht was taken over and perfected from the Slavic world, and leuștean arrived on our table with the Phanariot era.

In some areas it is seasoned with lemon juice or salt, or even cabbage juice. Traditional perișoare soup has a balanced taste, is easy to adapt (with pork, beef, chicken or even lean), is relatively simple to make and is filling without being heavy. Regardless of the region, it has become an indispensable part of our tables!

How do we prepare perișoare soup with the "home taste"?

Perișoare soup has a fairly permissive recipe, which many housewives adapt according to their eating habits and the ingredients at hand.

Ingredients for horseradish soup

For the hair:

• 250 g beef or poultry (breast, leg; you can also add a little skin with fat to the poultry)
  
  
• 1 egg white
  
  
• 1 tablespoon rice (washed and drained well, optionally blanched for 2–3 min and rinsed with cold water)
  
  
• 1 heaped tablespoon of flour (approx. 30 g)
  
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped onion (raw or lightly cooked)
  
  
• salt (½ teaspoon)
  
  
• a pinch of pepper
  
  
• finely chopped herbs: dill and/or parsley
  
  

For the juice:

• 2 liters of water
  
  
• 2–3 pork or beef bones (optional, for a tastier soup)
  
  
• 1 onion
  
  
• 1 carrot
  
  
• 1 parsnip
  
  
• 1 parsley root
  
  
• 1 piece of celery
  
  
• 1 bell pepper
  
  
• 1 tomato (summer) or other seasonal vegetables: peas, kohlrabi, cauliflower
  
  
• 2 tablespoons oil (for sautéing the vegetables)
  
  
• 1 liter of borscht, boiled separately and strained (or alternatively: cabbage juice, lemon juice/salt, vinegar or cucumber puree)
  
  
• Salt to taste

To serve:

• 100 ml sour cream
  
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
  
• fresh herbs: lovage (traditional), parsley or dill
  
  
• chili pepper
  
  

Steps to follow for the perișoare soup recipe

And now, let's see how this tasty traditional Romanian dish is made .

First, grate the carrot, parsnip, parsley root and celery on a large grater. Sauté them for 2 minutes with the onion in 2 tablespoons of oil, then put out with 2 liters of water (hot, if you are not using bones, otherwise cold). Add the bones (if using) and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer slowly, with the lid slightly ajar, for 30 minutes.

How do you make the hairpins?

While the broth is boiling, you can start the meatball recipe . Pass the meat twice through the meat grinder (the second time with raw or cooked onion). Add the egg white, the quickly boiled and drained rice, the flour, the herbs, the pepper and the salt. Mix until you get a homogeneous composition. You can also put other basic foods in the meatballs that help bind the composition and make them tender: breadcrumbs, semolina or even cornmeal!

To form the dumplings or dumplings, take a small amount of the mixture, about the size of a walnut, moisten your palm with cold water and roll into round balls. Don't worry, they will puff up when cooked. Place them all on a damp baking sheet so they can cook at the same time.

Remove the bones from the soup, then add all the perișorele. Simmer over low heat, partially covered, for 20-30 minutes (check to make sure the rice is cooked). Now is the time to add the broth or peeled tomatoes, if you want to make perișorele soup with broth. Add the borscht, boiled and strained separately (or the sourdough of your choice). Let it boil for 2–3 minutes.

You have a little more time and the perișoare soup like at mom's house is ready. Adjust the salt and add the chopped herbs. If you want a richer perișoare soup, thicken it with whipped cream with egg yolk, but not directly in the pot!

In a bowl, beat 1 egg yolk well with 100 ml of heavy cream. Take 2-3 ladles of hot soup (clear, no lumps) and gradually add it, stirring continuously. This is called "tempering" and prevents the egg from curdling. The mixture thus obtained is left on the table, and everyone puts their own dressing on their plate, according to taste.

You can store the cream-based pea soup in the refrigerator, in a closed container, for up to 3-4 days.

Tips and tricks for a perfect pea soup

• Skim the soup at first so it stays clear and clean.
  
  
• Quickly sauté vegetables for more flavor and a pleasant color.
  
  
• Parboil the rice for 2–3 minutes beforehand so that it doesn't swell too much and the hairs don't crack.
  
  
• Roll the hairs with a wet hand (cold water or a drop of oil) so they don't stick.
  
  
• Only put the hairpins in slow-boiling soup, otherwise they may fall apart.
  
  
• Boil the borscht or sour soup separately and add them strained, for a clear broth.
  
  
• You can also try the Transylvanian version of perișoare soup with cumin. Sprinkle whole or ground cumin seeds into the broth or add it to the perișoare; cumin goes well with many meat dishes .
  
  
• Use lovage for the traditional taste or, if you don't like it, combine parsley with dill for freshness.
  
  

Variants of pea soup

Soup of pea shoots with sour cream

If you want a creamier version, prepare the perișoare soup with cream directly in the pot. For 4 liters of water, use 300 ml of heavy cream and 2 egg yolks. Beat them in a bowl, temper with a few ladles of hot juice and add the mixture to the pot after adding the lemon juice or other sourness. Let the soup come to a boil with the stock, then turn off the heat.

Pork belly soup with smoked meat

In the classic version, the perișoare soup draws its strength from a bone broth, boiled for a long time to give flavor and clarity to the broth. In contrast, in the smoked perișoare soup, this role is taken over by pieces of kaizer, scașița or smoked knuckle.

They brown quickly at first, along with the onion, and then simmer with the vegetables, leaving an intense flavor and a smoky aroma in the pot that blends perfectly with the broth and the parsnips. You practically don't need the bones anymore: the smoke does all the work, transforming the soup into a more satisfying and flavorful dish.

Pea soup with rice

Perișoare soup with rice is a more filling version, in which the broth is enriched with a cup of rice added directly to the pot, along with seasoned vegetables (onion, carrot, and tomato).

While the rice is boiling, prepare the meatballs mixed with egg, flour, garlic and spices, then add them to the boiling soup. After the meatballs and rice are cooked, the soup is seasoned with borscht to taste, thickened with sour cream and parsley and lovage are added.

Frequently asked questions

How much rice is put in the perisore?

For every 250g of meat, add about 1 tablespoon of rice (30g). For larger amounts of meat, adjust the amount accordingly. Don't add too much rice, as the meatballs will fall apart.

How to make Lenten perișoare soup?

Lenten perișoare soup is made simply: instead of meat, the perișoare are prepared from finely ground walnuts, half-cooked rice, 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of flour, a small chopped onion, parsley, and spices.

Small balls are formed, which are boiled less than those with meat (just long enough to bind the composition), then added to the sour vegetable juice with borscht or lemon juice.

When is the broth added to the perișoare soup?

The broth is added after the hairs have hardened and boiled for a few minutes, to give flavor and color to the broth.

When is borscht added to the perissori soup?

Usually, the borscht (or cabbage soup) is boiled separately and added at the end, after the vegetables and mushrooms are cooked, leaving the soup to simmer for another 5–10 minutes.

In traditional borscht with perișoare, however, the borscht is added to the pot after you remove the bones and the vegetables are cooked. After 30-40 minutes, you add the perișoare directly to the boiling borscht, where they boil until they are done.

Why do hairs fall apart?

The meatballs can fall apart when cooked if they have too little binding agent (egg, flour, breadcrumbs), if the rice is not blanched, meaning boiled briefly before being added to the meatballs, if they are placed in cold water, or if they are boiled too hard.