Polish Duck Blood Soup {Czernina}

Anna

6 years ago

72 / 100

Polish Duck Blood Soup {Czernina}

Polish duck blood soup, depending on region of Poland is called “czernina” [chehr-knee-nah], “czarnina” [char-knee-nah] or sometimes “czarna polewka” [chahr-nah po-lev-kah], which means black liquid/black soup.

Duck blood soup is an “old school” delicacy. Recipe for this traditional soup was passed down from generation to generation and, in my family, it has not changed for the least 4 generations. I make it the way my grandma Stasia made it, and she made it how her mom and sisters made it. We would only eat it about once or twice a year. Despite its controversial reputation, we (my one-year-older brother and I) always enjoyed it when we were kids. I even watched my grandma through the whole process, killing the duck, draining the blood, plucking, gutting, portioning and then cooking. She was a pro at it. Didn’t even flinch.

I got the duck at the local farmer’s market, ready to cook. Maybe by the time I’m a grandma, I can be as bad ass as babcia was. For now, I’m pretty proud of myself for deboning it.

The soup is prepared from duck parts, dried fruit and a flavorful vegetable broth. No cutting corners here and using boxed broth. If you want this to work, you gotta go full in and do it right. Get the fresh veggies, prepare the broth and the results will knock you off your feet. The end result will deliver a very mild, slightly sweet but also savory broth with hints of fruit. The very distinct flavor comes from the duck meat, not the blood. Very little blood added to it gives the chocolate color but only a little bit of flavor.

I’m presenting it with thin egg noodles, just how we eat it.

Polish Duck Blood Soup {Czernina}

Yields: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: About 2 hrs

Ingredients

1 duck - we'll use breast bones, neck and giblets only
3 carrots
1 parsnip
1/2 of small leek
1/4 of a small celery root and a few twigs of the leafy part
1/4 of an onion, burnt over a gas stove or on a dry pan
6 peppercorns and allspice each (whole)
3-4 bay leaves
1 tbs of salt
7 cups / 1.5 liters of water
4-5 dried mushrooms
1/2 cup of dried apples
10 prunes
1/4 cup of dried pears
1 cup of home-made canned tart cherries, plus 1 cup of cherry juice (or 1 - 14.5 oz / 400 g can of tart cherries)
1 tbs of all purpose flour
1 cup / 230 ml of cold water
About 3/4 cup / 180-200 ml of duck blood*
1 tbs of vinegar
Additional salt
1/2-1 tsp of sugar

Instructions

Place dried fruit and mushrooms in 2 cups / 450 ml of water overnight or for at least 1 hour.
Wash the duck, remove wings, breasts and legs leaving the breast bone, neck and gizzards to make a flavorful broth. If this is too difficult of a task, as your butcher for help.
Place meat, carrots and vegetables in a medium pot and add water, salt, peppercorns, allspice and bay leaves. Boil on low heat for 1.5 hours. Remove meat and veggies from the pot and strain the broth.
Place broth back on heat. Add reconstituted fruit and mushrooms and tart cherries simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, mix flour with cold water well (no clumps). Mix blood with vinegar and add to water/flour mixture. Pour into soup, and bring to boil. Turn off. Taste, add a bit of salt and sugar, if needed. Amount of sugar will depend on the level of sweetness in dried fruit and cherries. Soup should be slightly sweet and a savory. Vinegar is not a super prevalent flavor in it. Add salt and sugar bit by bit to get to a desired flavor.

Notes

Serve hot, over noodles or other favorite dumplings.

Give it a try and let me know how it turns out.

Happy cooking!

Anna

*blood is normally sold with addition of vinegar, but feel free to add another 1 tbs of vinegar to cold blood mixture before combining with water/flour mixture.