Ciorbă de perișoare

Name: Ciorbă de perișoare
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Romanian
Ingredients: 400 g Pork, minced; 50 g Rice, rinsed; 1 piece Egg; 1 small Onion, grated; 10 g Parsley, chopped; 1 tsp Salt; 0.5 tsp Black pepper; 1 medium Onion, finely chopped; 2 medium Carrot, small dice; 1 medium Parsnips, small dice; parsley root if you find it; 2 stick Celery, diced, leaves saved and chopped; 1 piece Bell pepper, red or green, diced; 2 tbsp Neutral oil; 300 g Tomato, tinned chopped, or 3 ripe fresh, grated; 2 l Water, or light stock; 4 tbsp Lemon juice, to taste; or 250 ml borș added instead of some of the water; 1.5 tsp Salt; 20 g Parsley, chopped, with the celery leaves; lovage if you have it; 150 g Sour cream; 2 piece Fresh chilli, whole, to bite on at the table

Romanian sour soup with pork and rice meatballs, root vegetables, lovage and a finish of sour cream.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.

Start cooking

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 45 min
Rest: None
Total: 1 hr 15 min
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: No chilli
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Ciorbă is the Romanian family of sour soups, and ciorbă de perișoare is the one with small meatballs of pork and rice poached directly in the broth. Root vegetables and a little tomato make the base, the meatballs cook in it for twenty minutes, and then the soup is soured, traditionally with borș, a fermented wheat-bran liquid, and finished with chopped lovage and a spoon of sour cream. Borș is sold in Romanian shops; lemon juice or sauerkraut brine stands in. The soup should be clearly sour, not just tangy. The meatballs are soft because of the rice, and the herb at the end is not optional.

What you'll need

20 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 20 ready

6 servings

Meatballs
Soup
To finish

Ingredients

Servings

Meatballs

Pork, minced400 g
Rice, rinsed50 g
Egg1
Onion, grated1 small
Parsley, chopped10 g
Salt4.9 ml
Black pepper2½ ml

Soup

Onion, finely chopped1 medium
Carrot, small dice2 medium
Parsnips, small dice; parsley root if you find it1 medium
Celery, diced, leaves saved and chopped2 stick
Bell pepper, red or green, diced1
Neutral oil30 ml
Tomato, tinned chopped, or 3 ripe fresh, grated300 g
Water, or light stock2 l
Lemon juice, to taste; or 250 ml borș added instead of some of the water59 ml
Salt7.4 ml

To finish

Parsley, chopped, with the celery leaves; lovage if you have it20 g
Sour cream150 g
Fresh chilli, whole, to bite on at the table (optional)2

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Mix the pork, rinsed rice, egg, grated onion, parsley, salt and pepper. With wet hands roll into walnut-sized balls, about 24. Chill.
15 min
Step 2
In a large pot, soften the onion, carrot, parsnip, celery and pepper in the oil over medium heat for 8 minutes.
8 min
Step 3
Add the tomato and water, season with salt and bring to a gentle simmer.
10 min
Step 4
Lower the meatballs in one by one. Keep the soup at a bare simmer and cook 20 to 25 minutes until the rice inside is tender. Skim any foam.
25 min
Watch: A rolling boil breaks the meatballs apart.
Step 5
Add lemon juice or borș until the soup is distinctly sour. Simmer 2 minutes more. Taste for salt; sour soups want slightly more than you expect.
3 min
Step 6
Off the heat, stir in the herbs. Serve with a spoon of sour cream in each bowl, bread and a whole chilli alongside.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 358 kcal
Protein: 23.7 g
Carbs: 18.7 g
Fat: 20.5 g
Saturated fat: 7.2 g
Fibre: 3.1 g
Sugar: 7.6 g
Sodium: 1548 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Eggs
Milk

Gluten-free
Nut-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 11 November.

Substitutions

Lemon juice → Sauerkraut brine or a splash of white vinegar
Both are used in Romania when there is no borș. Brine adds more depth than vinegar.
Pork → Beef or turkey mince
Beef gives a darker soup. Turkey is the lighter weekday version.

Tips

Cut a meatball open at 20 minutes. If the rice is still chalky, give it five more.
Temper the sour cream with a ladle of hot soup before adding if you want it stirred through rather than spooned on top.
Borș and dried lovage are both sold in Romanian and Polish shops and keep for months.

History & culture

The first course of a proper Romanian lunch, winter and summer. Every family has a version and every canteen a daily ciorbă. It is also what Romanians eat when they are ill or hungover. Served with hot chilli on the side and bread. Lovage, leuștean, is the herb that makes it taste Romanian.

Ciorbă comes from the Turkish çorba, but souring soup with fermented bran is a local habit older than Ottoman rule, tied to Romanian wheat farming. Meatballs in soup appear across the former Ottoman world; the Romanian version adds rice and the sour finish.

Traditional — Soured with lemon juice because borș (fermented wheat bran) is hard to find outside Romania. Romanians do the same when they run out. Lovage is the proper herb and is not in the catalogue; celery leaves and parsley are the honest stand-in. If you find lovage, use it.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Ciorbă de perișoare take?

1 hr 15 min all in — 30 min prep, 45 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 6 bowls. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Easy.

How spicy is it?

No chilli.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Eggs, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Gluten-free, Nut-free.

7 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Stockpot, Mixing bowl, Chef's knife.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.

What can I use instead?

Lemon juice → Sauerkraut brine or a splash of white vinegar. Both are used in Romania when there is no borș. Brine adds more depth than vinegar. Pork → Beef or turkey mince. Beef gives a darker soup. Turkey is the lighter weekday version.

What should I watch for?

A rolling boil breaks the meatballs apart.

Any tips from this recipe?

Cut a meatball open at 20 minutes. If the rice is still chalky, give it five more. Temper the sour cream with a ladle of hot soup before adding if you want it stirred through rather than spooned on top. Borș and dried lovage are both sold in Romanian and Polish shops and keep for months.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.