In this article, we will tell you what a hash is, and how to cook it at home. It will be about an old Armenian dish, which is widespread and very popular in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia.
What is a hash?
This is a traditional Armenian soup made from livestock production waste - scar, tails and legs. They usually make it from veal or beef, but there are dishes made from lamb, pork, and even chicken. The cooking season of this dish is also very important. For example, in the summer, a rare housewife will start cooking hash, but in the cold season this dish is very popular. It is believed that this soup should be eaten in the early morning in order to gain strength for a hard day. They also say that hash saves from the consequences of a stormy feast and allows you to get rid of unpleasant symptoms. It is worth mentioning that the indigenous people eat this dish with their hands, scooping thick with pita bread. However, foreign tourists can use a spoon, and this action will not cause condemnation from the owners. Quite often, local vodka is served for soup, and, despite the early time, it is not accepted to refuse it. Now that we have told you what a hash is, you can move on to the recipes for making it.
Ingredient preparation
Since this dish uses products that are rarely seen on our table, we want to talk about them in more detail:
- Legs - for the soup, only the front legs are taken, since the rear legs have a persistent unpleasant odor (for obvious reasons). Next, the semi-finished product should be scraped off, how to rinse and soak for two hours. In the homeland of Khasha, the housewives laid their legs in a net and placed them in a mountain stream for a day. Then they should be scraped off again, washed and boiled in non-oxidizable dishes.
- Tripe - this ingredient is also cleaned several times, washed and boiled in water until the odor disappears. Please note that a well-made scar is rare. Therefore, there is always a risk of spoiling the whole dish with a "unique" amber.
- Tails - some experts use them instead of a scar to give the hash a meaty taste and the desired fat content.
Beef khash
No matter how difficult it may seem, you can cook an unusual soup at home. Just carefully read the instructions on how to cook hash, and follow it:
- Beef legs (one and a half kilograms) divide by joints. Try not to use an ax for this purpose, otherwise the broth will turn out to be too fat. Do not forget to also scrape off all traces of burning that remain after searing legs.
- Similarly, cut the beef tail over the joints.
- Put the food in a pan, fill it with water and cook over medium heat for one hour. After this, the broth should be drained, the legs and tail should be washed under running water, and the pan should be washed.
- Fill the food with water again and set it to simmer for seven or eight hours.
- In the morning, remove the tail and legs from the pan, and add half a liter of water to the broth.
- Cut all the meat from the bones and chop it.
- Grind garlic (three or four cloves per serving), cilantro and parsley.
Salt the finished dish, pepper and pour on plates. Serve with minced meat, herbs and cold vodka. Do not forget to cut thin pita bread, which you can also cook at home. To do this, just knead the dough out of water, flour and salt, and then bake the cakes in a dry pan.
Lamb hash
As you can see, this exotic Caucasian soup has been cooking for a very long time. However, the result will exceed all your expectations. To prepare the Armenian lamb hash, you will need:
- Rinse the lamb neck (one and a half kilograms), make deep cuts to the bones and put on the stove to cook. Drain boiling water, pour new and bring it to a boil again. Repeat the procedure several times.
- While the broth is boiling over low heat, form a bag of gauze and dip parsley root, bay leaf and peppercorns into it. Submerge the spices in the pan.
- Cook the meat for three or four hours, then remove it from the broth and cut into small pieces.
- In a mortar, grind garlic and salt at the rate of three cloves per serving.
Khash soup is ready. Now it can be served with chopped herbs and thin pita bread.
Beef Leg Khash
This time we suggest you cook Armenian soup in a strong broth according to the original recipe. How to cook hash? Read the description below:
- Scorch two kilograms of beef legs, and then clean with a stiff brush. After that, they should be cut into several parts. If you have never done this before, then ask you to help the butcher in the store or in the market.
- Fold the legs in a pan, fill them with water and leave alone for one day. Remember to change the water every three hours.
- Rinse the prepared legs again under running water and put them in a large pan. Pour water so that it rises above the product by 15-20 cm.
- Put the dishes on a strong fire, bring the liquid to a boil and remove the foam. After that, reduce the heat and cook the hash for about seven or eight hours.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the bones, let them cool, and then cut off all the meat. Cut large pieces into several pieces.
- Strain the broth through a sieve, return the meat to it and put the soup on the fire again . Salt to taste.
- Grind two heads of garlic, basil and parsley finely chopped, grate one radish. Put all prepared foods in one plate.
- Cut the pita bread into squares and dry.
Pour the khash into plates, serve prepared herbs, spices and pita leaves for it.
Khash in Baku
As you know, in each area, national dishes are prepared in their own way. So the Armenian hash can be done in several ways. Recipe for Baku soup read below:
- Thoroughly clean with a knife and wash the beef hooves, and then put them in a large pot and fill with water. Boil the legs on fire for at least two hours.
- Add two peeled onions to the pan, salt and cook for another hour and a half.
- Remove the hooves, separate the meat from the bone, and strain the broth.
- Finely chop the pieces of meat, return them to the pan and bring the soup to a boil.
- Peel the head of garlic, chop and put in a saucepan.
Khash is a simple dish, so it remains to mix, pour on plates and decorate with fresh herbs.
Khash in Tbilisi
Here is another recipe for this popular Armenian dish. To properly prepare it, you should consider some features. The soup recipe is as follows:
- Scrape carefully the mutton or beef legs, divide by joints and put in boiling water.
- Send the processed scars there too.
- As soon as the water boils, it should be drained and pour boiling water (10-12 glasses) instead.
- Cook foods until the broth thickens and the meat begins to move away from the bones. All this time, follow the soup and remove the foam that appears on it with a slotted spoon.
- In a separate dish, put chopped meat, finely chopped fresh herbs and chopped garlic, mixed with a little salt.
There is another way to cook hash in Tbilisi:
- Put the prepared ingredients in a suitable dish and fill with milk.
- Close the pan with a lid and leave it alone for five or six hours.
- When the specified time has passed, drain the milk, and fill the products with water and simmer for a quarter of an hour.
- Drain the broth in the sink, pour water into the pan again and repeat the procedure several times.
- At the end, pour the ingredients with boiling water and cook until cooked for five or six hours.
- Remove the legs and scar, strain the broth, and chop the resulting meat finely.
Khash is a dish that has come to us from time immemorial, so by tradition it should be eaten with hands. Therefore, do not forget to submit to it pita bread, cut into large squares and slightly dried in a dry frying pan.
Conclusion
We told you in detail what hash is and how to cook it. Therefore, you can easily make it at home if you use our recipes.