Beef Tripe Soup (Czech drstkova polevka)

Czech tripe soup, drztkova polevka, served in a bowl.

Beef Tripe Soup (Czech drstkova polevka)

If you go to a traditional Czech pub for lunch, you can easily find this tripe soup on the menu. Don't hesitate and give it a shot; it tastes wonderful with some fresh bread. Additionally, you can boast that you've tried a soup listed as one of the best examples of Czech cuisine in travel guides!

Course Soup

Cuisine Czech

Keyword Czech pub classics, czech soups

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 261kcal

Author Petra Kupská

Ingredients

2 onions mid-sized
3 cloves garlic
11 ounces cooked beef tripe (310 g)
2 Tablespoons pork lard or Canola / sunflower oil
⅓ cup all-purpose flour (45 g)
1 Tablespoon sweet paprika powder Hungarian style
5 cups beef broth (1.2 l)
½ Tablespoon dried marjoram
salt the amount depends on saltiness of the broth you used
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley greens chopped

Optional:

1 teaspoon hot paprika powder

Instructions

Make ahead: Peel the onions and chop them finely. Peel the garlic cloves and press or mash them. Have the beef stock ready so that it is lukewarm. Cut the cooked tripe into thin stripes about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long.
In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the lard or oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and fry until golden. Stir frequently.
Reduce the heat to one third and pour in the flour. Continue stirring and frying the flour with the onion for another minute.
Add the sweet paprika powder and stir for a further half minute, no longer.
Add beef broth—the most tricky part of the recipe! Remove the pot of onion roux from the heat source. Take a hand whisk. Pour about a cup of broth into the pot and whisk briskly to prevent lumps from forming. You'll get a thick mash at the bottom of the pot. Add another cup of stock and whisk again. Finally, slowly add the rest of the liquid, whisking constantly.
Return the pot to the stove and add the tripe and crushed garlic. Bring the soup to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for 25 minutes. Stir from time to time, as the flour tends to settle at the bottom of the pot and burn.
At the end of cooking, add the dried marjoram, rubbing it in your palm. So the soup gets most of the marjoram. Salt to your taste if necessary, and you are ready to serve!

Notes

Makes 4-6 portions.
SERVING: Serve the soup hot for lunch or dinner, with a slice of rye bread on the side. The soup is very filling; if you're not hungry, you could serve it as a main course. For a nice display, sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top of the soup.
STORAGE: Allow the remaining tripe soup to cool completely and store it in a covered pot or another suitable container in the refrigerator. The soup will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Some Czech cookbooks recommend seasoning the soup with ground black pepper or/and crushed caraway seeds. I did not use these spices, and the soup still tasted wonderful.

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