Tripe Soup Recipe

After a great deal of testing, I can say I like the tripe they sell in Kaufland. It is very well cleaned, it's refrigerated when it's fresh and it doesn't have a very strong smell.

I tried to find something similar in Carrefour, but I had hard time trying to get rid of the smell... And never get already sliced tripe, especially if you aren't really keen on the smell and the texture.

By the way, I buy tripe even when I don't plan on cooking it right away, if I happen to go to the store. I freeze it and I cook it when we want to eat tripe soup.

I wash the tripe thoroughly, place in a big bowl filled with cold water to cover the tripe completely and add 1 tbs baking soda.

Pour in 2-3 tbs vinegar and use your hands to mix well all the ingredients. 

Cover with a lid and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, I usually refrigerate overnight. 

All this in order to get rid of the strong specific smell - I call it 'stable smell' :)

After that, I remove the tripe from the water, baking soda and vinegar mixture and rinse well, then cut in halves. 

I'm only using 500 g tripe for a soup and they only sell by the kilo. So, I cook one half now and I freeze the other half to use another time, but I don't have to go through this whole process again.

One more step to help us get rid of the smell - I boil the tripe in hot water with salt for 2-3 minutes. You can skip this if you are not too sensitive about it or if you don't mind the smell that much. 

Notice it will shrink a bit after boiling.

After boiling, I let cool, then check for imperfections and I remove them if I find any using a knife or the scissors. 

I am kind of sensitive to strange smells and textures, that's why I like to prepare the tripe very well before cooking it.

In a 4-5 litre cooking pot, place the bones, a small celery root, and another white root and 1 onion. 

Tip - I usually boil the meat and the bones for the soup in the multicooker, this way they cook properly and don't need supervision, even if I leave the house.

Add the tripe and fill with enough water to cover everything. 

When it comes to the boil, I skim off the scum and cook over low heat for 3-4 hours.

This is how it looks like after boiling, but the exact time depends on the meat - stop boiling when the meat is tender and comes easily off the bones.

Now remove the bones and the meat, the tripe and the vegetables from the soup - let chill a bit.  

I throw the veggies away, they gave their flavour to the soup, but now they are pointless. 

I strain the soup, just to make sure there is no scum or bits of bones left. 

Finely grate the carrot. 

Braise for 5 minutes in the soup pot or, separately, in a skillet in about 50-100 ml oil.

Add the soup to the braised carrot.

Remove meat from bones and rip to small pieces. Tip into the soup pot and bring to a boil. 

Cut the tripe into small thin slices, especially if you don't like its texture, cut the pieces as small as possible. Combined with the meat, you won't feel the texture anymore, it will feel like boiled pork skin.  

Meanwhile, in a bowl mix the egg yolks with sour cream.

Take out about 10 ladles of hot soup and pour into the egg yolks and sour cream mixture. Stir constantly with the whisk.

Now return this mixture to the soup pot.

Stir in the freshly crushed garlic.

Adjust the taste with salt and pepper, mix well.

Very important!

At this stage, cook the soup only until it starts to come to a boil - it shouldn't boil too much, otherwise it will change its looks (not its taste, though). So, as soon as you notice the first bubbles, turn the heat off, stir and put the lid on.

We like to combine tripe soup with a bit of vinegar added to the bowl, chilli pepper and, maybe, not so often, some 'mujdei' (garlic paste). 

It feels so silky, it's got the perfect taste and colour, I really recommend trying this recipe. 

Enjoy!