Ciorba de potroace is made from poultry giblets and soured with sauerkraut brine. The name comes from the giblets themselves: potroace are the neck, back, hearts and gizzards of a hen or a turkey. It is a Moldavian soup, tied to weddings and to the turn of the year, and it is known as the thing you eat the day after a party.
What goes into it
The base is poultry giblets, simmered until the meat comes off the bone. Vegetables go in over them: potato, onion, carrot, celery, kapia pepper. It is soured with sauerkraut brine, not with fermented bran and not with vinegar, and that is the difference that makes it potroace and not something else. It is finished with sour cream and egg, and served with a hot pepper.
The brine is not just an acid. It brings salt and a fermented taste you notice straight away, which is exactly why this soup is asked for after a long night rather than before one.
Why it is eaten the morning after
In Moldavian villages, the morning after a wedding, hot potroace was served with home-baked bread and pickles. The custom moved to the turn of the year as well, after the New Year table. The practical explanation is simple: it is salty, sour and hot, which is what the body asks for after a party.
Across Moldavia it is known as the soup of the day after. On our menu it is called "Ion's Remedy", which is a joke of the house, not a medical claim.
How we cook it
The portion is 600 ml and costs 32.50 lei, with a 45 g bread roll and a hot pepper. It contains 100 g of poultry giblets, that is neck, back, hearts and gizzards, plus potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, kapia pepper, sour cream, egg, sauerkraut brine, fresh herbs and spices.
It has no additives. The declared allergens are gluten, eggs, milk and celery, that is 1, 3, 7 and 9. Nutritional values are 57 kcal per 100 g of product.
One thing to know before you set off: we do not put it on the fire every day. It sits among the occasional dishes, alongside the others we announce from one day to the next. A phone call settles it, and the Potroace soup in Galați page on ciorbelaion.ro carries what is known about the days it is cooked.
Questions we get
What is ciorba de potroace?
It is a Moldavian soup made from poultry giblets, neck, back, hearts and gizzards, soured with sauerkraut brine and finished with sour cream and egg. The name comes from potroace, which means the giblets themselves. It is served with a hot pepper and bread.
What is ciorba de potroace soured with?
With sauerkraut brine, the liquid from pickled cabbage. That sets it apart from other Romanian soups, which are soured with fermented wheat bran or with vinegar. The brine brings salt as well as a fermented taste.
Why is potroace eaten after a wedding or at New Year?
It is an old Moldavian custom: the morning after a wedding, hot potroace was served with home-baked bread and pickles. The custom spread to the table after New Year as well. Being salty, sour and hot, it is asked for after a long party.
Where can you eat ciorba de potroace in Galați?
At Ciorbe La Ion, 55 Gării Street, on the days we put it on the fire: it is an occasional dish, not cooked daily. The portion is 600 ml and costs 32.50 lei, with bread and a hot pepper. Call +40 740 834 615 first to be sure.
What allergens does ciorba de potroace carry?
At Ciorbe La Ion the declared allergens are gluten, eggs, milk and celery, that is numbers 1, 3, 7 and 9. It has no additives. The gluten comes from the bread roll, the milk from the sour cream, the eggs from the finishing, and celery goes into the broth.
Is potroace made with meat or only with giblets?
Traditionally it is made from poultry giblets: neck, back, hearts and gizzards. They give it both its taste and its body. Ours carries 100 g of giblets in a 600 ml portion.