Shkembe chorba is a thick Bulgarian soup of beef tripe boiled until soft, with a paprika roux. At the table, everyone adds garlic, vinegar and hot pepper to taste. The tripe takes a long time to cook, but the recipe is otherwise simple.

4 h 10 minprep 40 min · cooking 3 h 30 min
4 servingsLunch
For the patientdifficulty
310 kcalper serving

Ingredients

For the soup

  • 800 gbeef tripe, well cleaned and scalded
  • 1calf's foot (optional, to give the soup body)
  • 1carrot
  • 1onion
  • 2bay leaves
  • 6–8black peppercorns
  • 2 lwater
  • 1 tbspsalt, plus more to taste
  • 3 tbspsunflower oil or butter
  • 2 tbspflour
  • 1 tbspsweet paprika
  • 250 mlfresh milk
  • 1egg yolk

For serving

  • 6 clovesgarlic, crushed with a little salt
  • 100 mlvinegar
  • 4dried hot peppers or hot pepper flakes

Method

  1. Clean the tripe

    Soak the tripe in cold water with 1 tbsp of salt for 30 minutes, then rinse it several times. Cut it into strips about 2 cm wide.

    shkembe chorba — Clean the tripe

  2. Boil the tripe

    Put the tripe, calf's foot, carrot, whole onion, bay leaves and peppercorns in a pot with 2 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil, skim off the foam and simmer over low heat for 3 hours, until the pieces mash easily between your fingers.

    If the tripe was not scalded well, boil it for 10 minutes in separate water, drain it and put it in fresh water so it does not smell strong.

    shkembe chorba — Boil the tripe

  3. Take the meat off the bone

    Lift out the calf's foot, peel the meat off the bones and cut it into small pieces. Put the pieces back in the soup and take out the carrot, onion and bay leaves.

    shkembe chorba — Take the meat off the bone

  4. Make the roux

    Heat the oil over medium heat and stir in the flour for 1 minute, until it turns lightly golden. Take the pan off the hob, add the paprika and stir at once so it does not turn bitter.

    Paprika burns in seconds, so always add it off the heat.

    shkembe chorba — Make the roux

  5. Thicken the soup

    Add the roux to the soup with a little of the hot liquid, stir and cook for another 15 minutes over low heat. Add salt to taste.

    shkembe chorba — Thicken the soup

  6. Add the milk

    Whisk the egg yolk and milk in a bowl, then add 3–4 ladles of the soup so the temperatures even out. Pour the mixture into the pot and stir for 2 minutes, without letting it boil.

    If the soup boils after you add the milk, it may curdle.

    shkembe chorba — Add the milk

  7. Prepare the seasonings

    Pour the vinegar over the crushed garlic in a small bowl. Fry the dried hot peppers in oil for 20 seconds and crumble them coarsely.

    shkembe chorba — Prepare the seasonings

  8. Serve

    Ladle the soup into 4 deep bowls while it is very hot. Everyone adds garlic in vinegar and hot pepper to taste.

    shkembe chorba — Serve

How to serve it

Serve with slices of bread and a small bowl of garlic in vinegar and hot peppers beside each plate.

Good to know

Shkembe chorba is a traditional dish in Bulgarian cooking, and tripe is also used in soups in other Balkan cuisines.

Per serving (approximate): 310 kcal · protein 24 g · fat 18 g · carbohydrates 12 g