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Polish soup Zhurek - (Żurek) with smoked meats

Polish Żurek (Sour Rye Soup) with Smoked Meats

A festive, hearty soup that's a Polish tradition. Żurek is a beloved Polish national dish, and almost every holiday calls for a pot of it. Its secret lies in the fermented rye starter it's made with.

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Recipe author

Polish soup Zhurek - (Żurek) with smoked meats

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Sour rye starter (zakwas)

500

Onion

Smoked ribs

500

Smoked sausage

500

Smoked chicken legs

500

Bay leaf

Eggs

Sour cream

100

Allspice

Dried marjoram

Salt

Ground black pepper

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 31 % 10 g

Fats 59 % 19 g

Carbohydrates 9 % 3 g

263 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

First, make the broth. Put all the broth ingredients in a pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil and simmer the broth for about fifteen minutes. While it simmers, hard-boil the eggs and cut the smoked meat and sausage into thin strips.
Step 2:

Finely chop the onion and the eggs.
Step 3:

Fry the smoked meats with the onion in a skillet until browned.
Step 4:

Once the broth has simmered, lift out the meats that were used to flavor it.
Step 5:

Add the fried smoked meats and onion to the broth and cook for about five minutes. At this point, don't forget to add the marjoram and season with salt and pepper.
Step 6:

Then stir the sour rye starter into the soup and bring it just to a boil.
Step 7:

Once it boils, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Add the eggs and sour cream—the sour cream shouldn't go into boiling broth.
Step 8:

Once you've stirred the soup, it's ready to serve. Traditionally, Poles serve it in a hollowed-out bread bowl. Enjoy!

Żurek is a soup that's been known among Slavic peoples for centuries; it started out as a simple porridge of oat flour. In the old days, the starter was made from various grains, such as oats. But modern life sometimes calls for shortcuts, so these days you can buy ready-made starter at the store and skip the week of preparation. Still, if you don't mind the effort, you can make the traditional starter yourself. For this so-called "zakwas," you typically use oat or rye flour mixed with water (150-200 grams of flour per liter), left in a warm spot for 5-7 days to ferment. In Poland this soup is usually served for holidays—no wedding, in particular, goes without żurek. It's served in a special vessel made of bread, ideally a round loaf. Żurek is a very filling dish, so guests always leave satisfied. Give it a try—you're sure to love it.