Polish Tripe Soup {Flaki}
Tripe soup is a dish that is made around the world. The spices and ingredients used will depend on the region the soup is made in. This recipe shows how to make flaki [flah-kee] in a traditional Polish way. In my home, it was always made with beef, root vegetables and typical Polish herbs, like marjoram. I like my flaki (or sometimes called flaczki) spicy, with a lot of vegetables. Broth needs to be well salted and flavorful.
I’ve been eating tripe soup since I was a kid. It was never made to be a big deal, I guess. It was just another delicious dish to enjoy. It wasn’t made super often either, so the occasional “treat” was kind of nice. Tripe is a mild soup, believe it or not. A lot of the flavor comes from veggies and spices, and tripe plays a supporting role only. The combination of all, though, does have a very one-of-a-kind flavor profile. I hope you try it.
Polish Tripe Soup {Flaczki}
Ingredients
- 1 lb / 500 g of beef tripe
- 2 carrots
- 1 parsnip or parsley root
- ¼ of a celery root
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ a small onion
- 1 lb / 500 g of beef on a bone (ribs or tail)
- ½ tbsp of salt
- 3-4 bay leaves
- 6 whole peppercorns and allspice berries (each)
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of flour
- ½ tsp of ground ginger
- 2 tsp of paprika
- ¼ tsp of ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp of dried marjoram
- More salt and freshly ground pepper or red pepper flakes
Instructions
Wash tripe with cold water. Place in a pot and cover with water. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Repeat this 3 times. Make sure the meat is clean and free of any impurities. If it still gives off A STRONG smell, repeat one more time. In the mean time, peel carrots, parsnip / parsley root, celery root, and garlic. Peel onion and burn straight on a gas burner or a dry frying pan.
After you've decided tripe is ready, place it and beef in the same pot. Add 6 cups / 1 ½ liters of water, salt, peeled carrots, parsnip/ parsley root, celery root, garlic, and burnt onion. Also add bay leaves, peppercorns and allspice berries. Bring to boil, turn to low and simmer for 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Remove vegetables and continue boiling (covered) for another 2 hours.
In the mean, time grate vegetables on the largest side of the box grater, set aside.
After 2 hours of cooking tripe, taste a piece of tripe, if it's still not soft, continue boiling for another 30 minutes - 1 hour. When done, remove beef bones and debone any meat that may have cooked on the bone and return meat to broth.
Lastly, in a small sautéing pan make roux by melting butter and combining with flour. Add about ½ cup of broth to roux and whisk to combine. Add to soup and bring to boil to thicken. Add grated vegetables, ginger, paprika, nutmeg and marjoram. Boil for another 10 minutes. Taste.
Here, I added another tablespoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper, and a sprinkle of pepper flakes. Soup should be salty and a bit spicy. Add more, if needed but do it gradually. It does need quite a bit of salt, though.
Notes
Best if soup sits overnight. To serve, reheat and serve very hot, with crusty bread.
Happy cooking and smacznego!
Anna
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