Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian dishes

  • Romanian traditional fried dough ribbons

    Romanian traditional fried dough ribbons

    Doughnuts are a very popular and easy-to-make dessert. All you need is half a kilo of flour, a little oil, fresh or dried yeast, sugar, and a pinch of salt. In a bowl mix the flour with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, a sprinkle of salt and the dried yeast. Add a little warm water and knead until getting sticky dough. Add a little oil and continue to knead until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and set aside to allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft free place until it doubles in size. Then place the dough on an oiled surface and using a rolling pin roll to a thickness of 1 cm. Cut the dough into strips and fry in oil, over low heat. Drain the oil, then sprinkle with icing sugar.



    Today we will also bring you the recipe for a fried dough dish that is very popular in Romania called “minciunele, translating into English as “little lies. This dessert consists of thin, crispy braided strips, without a filling.



    The recipe is very simple. You need 4 egg yolks, 3 and a half cups of all-purpose flour, one tablespoon of sugar or 1 pack of vanilla sugar, a few drops of rum essence and a pinch of salt. You can use fewer yolks if you add 1 cup of milk, and, if you wish, 1 tablespoon of sour cream.



    Knead all these ingredients into a smooth, elastic dough. Gently roll out the dough into a sheet the thickness of a knife blade. Use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into strips about 15 cm long and about 3 cm wide. With a sharp knife, make a lengthwise incision right in the middle, about 4 cm long. Take one end of the strip and pass it through this incision in the middle, making a kind of ribbon. Deep-fry the ribbons of dough. Serve plain, with powdered sugar. You can also dip them into your favourite homemade jams.



    Enjoy!

  • Romanian traditional fried dough ribbons

    Romanian traditional fried dough ribbons

    Doughnuts are a very popular and easy-to-make dessert. All you need is half a kilo of flour, a little oil, fresh or dried yeast, sugar, and a pinch of salt. In a bowl mix the flour with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, a sprinkle of salt and the dried yeast. Add a little warm water and knead until getting sticky dough. Add a little oil and continue to knead until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and set aside to allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft free place until it doubles in size. Then place the dough on an oiled surface and using a rolling pin roll to a thickness of 1 cm. Cut the dough into strips and fry in oil, over low heat. Drain the oil, then sprinkle with icing sugar.



    Today we will also bring you the recipe for a fried dough dish that is very popular in Romania called “minciunele, translating into English as “little lies. This dessert consists of thin, crispy braided strips, without a filling.



    The recipe is very simple. You need 4 egg yolks, 3 and a half cups of all-purpose flour, one tablespoon of sugar or 1 pack of vanilla sugar, a few drops of rum essence and a pinch of salt. You can use fewer yolks if you add 1 cup of milk, and, if you wish, 1 tablespoon of sour cream.



    Knead all these ingredients into a smooth, elastic dough. Gently roll out the dough into a sheet the thickness of a knife blade. Use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into strips about 15 cm long and about 3 cm wide. With a sharp knife, make a lengthwise incision right in the middle, about 4 cm long. Take one end of the strip and pass it through this incision in the middle, making a kind of ribbon. Deep-fry the ribbons of dough. Serve plain, with powdered sugar. You can also dip them into your favourite homemade jams.



    Enjoy!

  • Giblet Soup and Aspic

    Giblet Soup and Aspic

    Today’s show will once again be about the kind of dishes that Romanians enjoy more often around the holidays. This particular recipe is for a type of soup that is typically served on the first day of the year for lunch, as a fortifier after a night of partying. It is giblet soup, using bits and pieces of chicken such as heads, necks, feet and backs.



    Giblet soup is a rich brew that is best shared, hence the large quantities in the recipe. It takes a large pot, worth about 10 liters. Take about 2 kg of giblets, and let boil in 4 liters of water with a pinch of salt. Skim the stock, then add 2 or 3 onions, a few carrots, one parsnip and celeriac, all finely chopped. Bring to a boil, then add a cup of rice. The secret ingredient is sauerkraut juice, about 2 liters. Separately, beat two eggs with sour cream and a bit of the liquid, adding that to the soup. Add finely chopped lovage to garnish and add that special flavor that characterizes Romanian cooking. Enjoy!



    Another recipe typical of the holidays, and similar in preparation, is aspic. Aspic is made of chicken, goose, pork, veal and even fish stock, although fish has too little natural gelatin. For instance, to make chicken aspic you need 1 kg of wings and thighs as well as feet and heads, so that the aspic should jellify quicker. You also need 2 onions, 2 carrots, a head of garlic and several sprigs of green parsley.



    Boil the meat with the carrots and onions. Skim and leave to boil until the meat shreds off the bones. At the end add salt to taste. Take out the meat and bones and shred the meat in medium sized strips. Strain the liquid and pour it in a container and then add pressed garlic. In a bigger container or in several smaller bowls place, for decoration purposes, round slices of carrot, green parsley sprigs, thin slices of pickled red pepper and also the strips of meat. Then pour the chicken stock carefully and leave to cool, then place the container or bowls in the fridge for the jelly to congeal. The aspic is served the next day. Good luck and enjoy!

  • Meatball soup

    Meatball soup

    It is easy to cook, but you need to be very careful, because the meatballs may easily break up. To make this soup, you need around 750 grams of minced beef, a piece of meat on the bone, two carrots, a parsnip and a parsley root. You also need a celery stalk, a cup of rice, an onion, two eggs, tomato juice, one bunch of parsley and another of dill.



    Bring the beef on the bone to the boil in a 4-litre pot, skim the scum rising to the surface, then add all the grated vegetable roots. You can also add red peppers and tomatoes, also finely chopped. Take out the beef after it has boiled, cut the meat into small pieces and then put the pieces back in the liquid they boiled in.



    Slice the onion, then mix it in a bowl with the minced meat, the eggs, the finely-chopped dill, the rice, after washing it first, and a pinch of salt. After about 20 minutes, mould little meatballs, then put them in the pot where you had the vegetables boil. Add the tomato juice and bring back to boil. Remove the pot from the heat, then add the finely-chopped parsley. Add a bit of cream after you have filled your soup plates with the thick soup, which also goes with a hot pepper. Enjoy!