Işkembé Çorbası is a Turkish chorba (soup) made with tripe (cow stomach), which can include different parts of the stomach known as: tuzlama, işkembe, şirden, and damar.
The Turkish name, which means “tripe soup,” comes from the Persian shekambe (شکمبه, transliterated “rumen”) and shurba (شوربا, meaning “soup”), from the Arabic shurba (شربة, meaning “soup”), which is derived from the verb shariba (شرب, “to drink”).
Some Southern Slavic languages also borrowed the name of the dish from Turkish: škembe čorba (шкембе чорба) is the Bulgarian and Macedonian term, while škembe (шкембић) is used in Serbian and Bosnian.
It is widely considered a remedy for hangovers and can be found on almost every New Year’s Eve menu, where it is eaten after midnight.
The tradition of consuming this dish after heavy drinking began in the 18th century among the Ottoman Turks when they drank large amounts of alcoholic drinks like rakı.
In Turkey, Işkembé Çorbası is generally consumed with garlic and vinegar sauce and/or with the addition of an egg yolk (called terbiye), after cooking and before serving.
In traditional restaurants, the dish may also contain cow and sheep offal, such as the so-called kelle (sheep meat, including cheeks, baked).
Another Turkish chorba recipe available on the blog:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs beef tripe
- 5 cups water
- 8 cloves garlic
- 5 tbsps vinegar
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 tbsps flour
- 2 tbsps lemon juice
- 2 tbsps yogurt
- to taste crushed red pepper flakes (in flakes)
- to taste butter (or olive oil)
- to taste salt
Steps
Wash the tripe thoroughly.
Then cook the tripe with water and salt for about 1.5 – 2 hours or until tender.
Remove the foam from the surface and take the cooked tripe out of the water (reserving the water) and cut it into cubes.
Melt some butter (or olive oil) and add 3 tablespoons of flour, mix, and slowly add about 2 or 3 cups of cooking water, stirring continuously.
Blend, if necessary, until smooth; then add the tripe to the mixture. Cook for 15-20 minutes on medium-low heat.
For the sauce: combine the crushed garlic cloves with the vinegar. Slowly pour the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of flour, the mixture of garlic and vinegar, lemon juice, and yogurt into the pot, stirring very slowly.
Cook for another 3-4 minutes over medium heat. If it is too thick, add a little water.
To serve: melt some butter (or olive oil) in a small pan, then add the chili flakes and stir (2-3 minutes).
Then pour the soup into bowls and drizzle with the sauce and chili butter.
Serve the soup warm.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are the variations of Işkembé Çorbası in Bulgaria and Romania?
In Bulgaria, it is prepared as “shkembe chorba“: a whole pork, beef, or lamb tripe that is boiled for several hours, cut into pieces, and returned to the broth.
The soup is seasoned with sweet paprika, which is first sautéed in butter (запръжка), and generally, a small amount of milk is added.
Traditionally, the soup is served with a garlic and vinegar dip and hot red pepper.
There is a variation of shkembe chorba that is prepared with intestine instead of tripe.
The soup was very popular among the working classes until the late ’80s, when in Bulgaria, taverns that served only shkembe chorba (the so-called шкембеджийница) were very popular.
The Romanian term for Işkembé Çorbası is “ciorbă de burtă“, very similar to the traditional ciorbă de ciocănele (“pig’s leg soup”).
Ciorbă de burtă is often seasoned with vinegar, sour cream (smântână) and a garlic and oil sauce called mujdei.What types of chorba are served in Turkish restaurants?
In the city of Ankara, restaurants serving tripe soup (İşkembe Çorbacısı) in the Cankaya district are very famous.
In Bursa and Istanbul, there are some restaurants that serve only soup on the menu, with İşkembe Çorbası and sheep’s head meat soup (kelle paça çorbası).
