Pacha with pork tongue is my modification of the classic Bulgarian pacha, which is however prepared with differences in different regions of Bulgaria and neighboring countries. I know the basic recipe from my father, the addition of tongue is my contribution 🙂 I am giving the recipe in a version of jellied pacha with pork tongue. For those who like pacha soup, I think adding more of the stock and heating it up is not a big challenge.
When pouring the pacha into bowls to cool, my father always puts pickled cucumbers, garlic and pickled carrots – whatever he has on hand.
Pacha is believed to have originated in traditional Armenian cuisine, where it is called “hash”. Hash and its variations are traditional dishes in Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, North Macedonia, Mongolia and some Persian Gulf countries. In the Balkans, it is called “pacha”, which is a Turkish word of Persian origin. In Persian, pacha (پاکه) is a word meaning the lower part of the shank.
One of the first written records of patcha dates back to 1184 in the travelogue “Relief of Fevers” by the Armenian physician Mikhtar Heratsi. In Bulgaria, pacha is mainly made from pork, while in Muslim countries sheep, beef and goat shanks are used.
My Pacha with pork tongue may not be the most traditional option, but my family and I like it.
Products (for 4 servings)
- 400 g of pork tongue
- 400 g pork legs
- 200 g of pork snout
- 400 g pork cheek
- 100 g of carrot
- 100 g of pickles
- 8 sc. garlic
- 4 pcs. Bay leaf
- 10 grains pimento
- 1 tsp black pepper (grains)
- Salt (18 g/kg)
Preparation of Pacha with pork tongue
Place all meat in a pressure cooker without cutting it into pieces (you can, but it’s just not needed). Add salt, the pimento, and the black pepper. Add enough water, so that the meat is covered. The stove is turned on at maximum heat until it boils (the pot starts to beep, whistle, fizz, etc.), then reduce it to medium and cook for 1 hour from the moment of boiling.
Then turn off the stove, move aside the pressure cooker, and open the steam release valve. You have to be careful with it and open it slowly because the steam is very hot and burns easily.
Remove the meat from the pressure cooker (it’s hot, remember…) and cut into 1-2 cm pieces. Cut the cucumbers, the garlic, and the carrots into wheels and add them to the meat. Mix the ingredients so that the different types of meat, as well as the vegetables, are evenly distributed and poured into 4 appropriately sized bowls. After that, the bowls are filled with the broth left over from the cooking and put in the refrigerator. Our Pacha with pork tongue needs to stay in the fridge overnight to be ready.
Serving
Pacha with pork tongue is served cold, with the bowls placed bottom up on a plate. Grab both the bowl and plate together with your hands and shake until the pacha separates from the bowl and remains on the plate.
Nutrition Values (for 100 g.)
Total kcal: 180
Carbohydrates: 4 g.
Fat: 20 g.
Proteins: 15 g.
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