Borscht Ukrain­ian style

1 1/2 pound soup meat
1 pound lean fresh pork
1/2 pound smoked pork
10 cups cold water
1 bay leaf
6 pep­per­corns
1 bunch soup greens
8 medium-sized beets
1 cup shred­ded cab­bage
2 large onions
3 large pota­toes
6 toma­toes or 1 1/2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp vine­gar
1 clove gar­lic
5 frank­furters
1 tbsp but­ter
1tbsp flour
1/2 cup cooked navy beans

Any kind of smoked pork is good for this soup, but the best fla­vor is obtained from “smoked backs”. These are inex­pen­sive and won­der­fully fla­vor­some, but have almost no meat on them. They can be served in the soup. If you use smoked backs, you’ll need 1 pound instead of 1/2 pound.

Put your soup meat and your two kinds of pork in a large heavy pot with the water. Bring to a boil. Skim, then add the bay leaf, pep­per­corns, gar­lic, and soup greens. The soup green should include pars­ley, Russ­ian pars­ley, a car­rot, cel­ery, and a leek. Cover and sim­mer 1 1/2 hours.

In the mean­time, cook 7 beets, unpealed, till ten­der. Grate 1 raw beet and mix 3 table­spoons of cold water. This is to use for col­or­ing. When the seven beets are done, peel them and cut each beet in eight pieces.

Take the meat out of the soup pot. Dis­card the smoked backs, if this is what you have used. If you have used a more meaty cut of smoked pork, take it out and put it aside.

Strain the soup; pour it back in the pot; add the beets, cab­bage, and the onions and pota­toes cut in quar­ters. Peel and seed the toma­toes before putting them in. Add the vine­gar and sugar.

Now put all the pieces of meat. Boil up. Let sim­mer for one hour. Add cooked navy beans. Cut the frank­furters in thick slices. Add them to the soup 20 min­utes before serving.

When you’re ready to eat, skim the excess fat from the soup. Thicken the soup with the flour browned in but­ter. Add the juice of the raw beet mixed with water. Salt if needed. Cut all the meat in thick slices and put back in the soup. Serve pip­ing hot, with a bowl of sour cream on the side. Very fancy Russ­ian gourmets add strips of cold roast duck to this borsch a few min­utes before serving.