Ciorbă de Fasole cu Afumătură (Sour Bean Soup with Smoked Pork)

Method

1. 1

   Cube the smoked pork belly and dice the onion and carrot.

2. 2

   Put the pork belly in the pot with water and simmer 30 minutes to render its smoke into the broth.

3. 3

   Add the beans, onion, carrot and bay leaf; simmer until the beans are creamy all the way through, about 45 minutes.

   💡 Press a bean against the pot wall — it should mash easily with no chalky center.

4. 4

   Stir in the tomato paste and simmer 5 minutes more to cook off its raw edge.

5. 5

   Sour it: add the vinegar in stages, tasting after each, until the broth has a clean sharp tang.

   💡 A ciorbă that doesn't make you sit up straighter isn't soured enough.

6. 6

   Stir in the tarragon and ladle into bowls with raw onion quarters on the side, like the mountain lodges do.